People visit Kuta beach on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Aug 15, 2020, which has seen a downturn in tourism following the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP / GETTY IMAGES / BLOOMBERG)

The Indonesian island of Bali will remain closed to foreign visitors for the rest of 2020 after authorities postponed a plan to welcome back international tourists from September 11 as the coronavirus continues to spread.

Over 6 million foreign tourists visited Bali last year, accounting for more than a third of Indonesia’s total

“The Indonesian government couldn’t reopen its doors to foreign travelers until the end of 2020 as we remain a red zone,” Bali Governor Wayne Koster said in a statement. “The situation is not conducive to allowing foreign tourists to come to Indonesia, including to Bali.” 

After some success in containment early on, Bali’s infection rate jumped in June as migrant workers returned home and testing increased. The island had 4,513 confirmed cases as of Sunday and 52 deaths, government figures show. Indonesia as a whole has more than 150,000 confirmed cases and 6,680 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

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A man carries a surfboard at Kuta beach on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Aug 15, 2020, which has seen a downturn in tourism following the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP)

Bali has been open to local travelers since the end of July, and as many as 2,500 people have been arriving through its airport every day without causing a spike in infections, Koster said. The local government will focus on increasing the number of domestic visitors to help the tourism industry and economy recover, he said.

Over 6 million foreign tourists visited Bali last year, accounting for more than a third of Indonesia’s total. The government warned in April that the pandemic could wipe out more than US$10 billion of Indonesia’s tourism revenue this year, a forecast that is likely to worsen now because it assumed there would be some recovery in the second half.