Indonesia has resumed as one of the first destinations in SE Asia to be fully open to superyachts, crew and owners. After a year of shutdowns, lockdowns and meltdowns, Catalano Shipping and Benoa Marina are leading the re-opening period with new protocols which make superyacht entry simple. Additionally, as long as conditions are met in advance of arrival, there are very low (3-5 day) mandatory quarantine periods necessary which is a huge boost for crew changes and owner trips. "Prioritizing Marine Tourism is a good move," commented CSS MD Richard Lofthouse "It is low volume and mainly takes place outside of large local communities and built-up areas. It is very easy to track a small group of people in an isolated space so it makes sense to grow things back from here."
Benoa Marina, managed by a superyacht agents CSS Indonesia, has remained busy throughout the last 12 months but now is receiving a lot of new enquiries. "It is exciting to see things moving forward again and the marina starting to fill up," said Miranda Hebert, CSS GM "It has been a challenging year and we are looking forward to finishing strongly."The Indonesian Government has made single entry visas more readily available over the last few weeks and CSS has processed over 40 of these e-visas for visitors successfully - some in as few as 3 days with the average around 7 days. "This makes a big difference and allows crew changes and guest trips to happen a lot more easily than in almost any other country in the region," continues Lofthouse "This, coupled with clear entry protocols and the remoteness of the National Parks, has made Indonesia an attractive post-Covid destination and we are looking forward to continuing to welcome our clients back. The cruising over the next few months will be some of the best in history!"’ Indonesia is also one of the first countries in the world to begin vaccinations for Covid 19, starting in November.