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Bali extends visas for thousands of stranded Chinese travellers
With about 5,000 Chinese tourists effectively stranded in Bali, Indonesia’s immigration ministry said it would waive any visa overstays.
Indonesia suspended direct flights to mainland China on Wednesday, and no more visas on arrival are being issued for new Chinese travellers arriving.
The Chinese Consul General in Bali, Gou Haodong has negotiated visa extensions for the stranded tourists, and many of them are opting to stay in Bali rather than face major disruption and travel restrictions in their home cities.
The tourists can still fly home via intermediate hubs such as Bangkok, although the options are shrinking almost daily with dozens of airlines now discontinuing flights into China.
Several people are in hospital under observation but no confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported yet in Indonesia.
Bali Deputy Governor Tjok Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati said Bali could potentially lose about 17% of the inbound market worth about $3 billion due to the flight suspension.
Last year about 1.4 million Chinese tourists visited Bali.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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