Destinations Known | Can Bali survive a continued coronavirus closure? It has bounced back before
- The Indonesian island is still welcoming domestic visitors, but a lack of international arrivals threatens livelihoods
- Many tourism workers have returned to traditional ways of life and its government aims to boost agriculture and creative sectors
Late last month, Bali’s governor, Wayan Koster, dashed the dreams of many hopeful holidaymakers when he announced the Indonesian island would remain closed to international tourists for the rest of the year. After reopening to domestic travellers at the end of July, the popular destination was working towards welcoming those from further afield from September 11, but with the rest of the country staying shut, it was ultimately deemed impossible.
As reported by the Nikkei Asian Review, that decision brought “despair but also relief” to inhabitants of the Island of the Gods. Among those in the former camp was Made Ramia Adnyana, deputy chairman of the Bali Hotel General Managers Association, who told Indonesian newspaper Kompas: “We’re not sure how the Bali tourism industry can survive until early 2021 with the addition of four to five months [of closure].”
To illustrate his concern, Adnyana said about 4,900 tourists visited Bali during the weekend of August 22, barely a drop in the ocean of more than 130,000 rooms available on the island.
Also despairing was Jimmy Saputra, CEO of Pegasus Indonesia Travel, a Bali-based travel agency that specialises in the Russian market. Saputra started an online petition appealing to President Joko Widodo to let the September 11 reopening go ahead.
“More than half of the total 400-odd inbound tour operators in Bali are at the breaking point,” Saputra told the Nikkei, adding that if travel agents were to go bankrupt, the hotels they serve would be at risk of going under, too.
