“We’re tired of promises from the government,” said 32-year-old holiday villa manager Bando on Tuesday. “Honestly, we’re tired of hoping. […] We need tourists back.”

The business that Bando manages, based in Bali’s once bustling Seminyak district, has subsisted on a sprinkling of domestic tourists and monthly rentals to the few foreigners that have remained on the island, but bookings are sparse, cancellations are common and total revenue is less than a third of what it used to be.

“I don’t think things will change rapidly [under the new policy] because people still have to follow terms and conditions, like COVID-19 tests, quarantine, etc.,” he said.

The government announced late on Wednesday that Bali would accept direct flights from 19 countries, including China, India, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia, because of their low COVID-19 caseloads.

Tourists on such flights would be required to quarantine for five days, show evidence of having received at least two vaccine doses and have health insurance that covered COVID-19 treatment abroad, among other requirements.

Read also: Days before Bali reopens, govt undecided on quarantine

Similarly, 26-year-old surf instructor Yanto’s patience for fleeting pandemic policies has worn thin.

“To be honest, I can’t really rely on the government anymore because, as we know, it changes so many regulations over the course of days,” he said. “So when I heard about Bali opening, I thought, ‘Nice, great.’ But my expectations aren’t high because it could be tomorrow that they close it again.”

The government suspended international travel to the island province in April 2020, after the discovery of sustained COVID-19 cases in the country.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo had initially hoped to reopen Bali in September 2020, but the plan was repeatedly delayed as cases surged around the world, including during a Delta variant-fueled second wave in Indonesia earlier this year.

The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry attempted to circumvent the issue by establishing bilateral travel corridors with select countries, including India and Singapore, but those plans also stalled.

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data, Bali admitted 43 international visitors from January to August of this year, a fraction of the 4.06 million visitors recorded in the same period in 2019, before the pandemic struck.

The drop in arrivals caused Bali's gross regional product to contract for five consecutive quarters, starting from the first quarter of 2020. The island’s economy grew a modest 2.83 percent in the second quarter of this year, according to BPS data.

Bali Tourism Agency head Putu Astawa said tourist activity would be muted at first. 

“The reopening was announced with quite short notice,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. “I am not too optimistic yet. I think one flight this month is good enough. It would give industry players strong motivation."

He expected about 200 tourists to arrive in Bali in October and said the monthly figure could rise to about 1,000 by January 2022.

Despite the lackluster projection, Balinese officials have been preparing to welcome foreign tourists by running simulations at the airport, quarantine hotels and tourist destinations.

"We hope that once the border is open, it will be open for good. I hope that people are not stuck with reopening euphoria and forget about the pandemic,” Putu added.

Read also: Bali to reopen to some foreign tourists from mid-October

Some 83 percent of Bali residents have received a second COVID-19 vaccine dose, and 99 percent have received a first, according to Health Ministry data, making for a provincial vaccination rate second only to Jakarta’s. The island has also seen fewer than 100 daily new COVID-19 cases this month, according to national COVID-19 task force data.

Bali Deputy Governor Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati said in an online discussion on Wednesday that tourists might “not come flocking in right away” as travelers usually needed a month to arrange their visas and flights.

As of Wednesday, he added, Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport had yet to receive any landing requests from international flights and Balinese authorities were still waiting for tourist COVID-19 testing guidelines from the central government.

“Honestly, we don’t know which airlines will be allowed to land in Bali, and because of that, we didn’t sell any tickets to Bali,” said Indonesian Travel Agents Association (Astindo) secretary-general Pauline Suharno.