Bali Tourism Slowly Comes Back to Life as It Reopens to Local Tourists

KOMPAS.com – Bali is crawling back to life after it reopened its doors to local tourists. 

Bali Governor Wayan Koster said tourism began to recover gradually since the resort island in Indonesia was reopened to local tourists on July 31.

Koster said the signs of recovery could be seen from an increasing number of flights via I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, he said, only served two flights per day before July 31, bringing a total of 1,000 passengers to Bali.

“After July 31, Garuda Indonesia has served five flights a day to Bali,” state news agency Antara cited Koster as saying on August 23.

“If we count all [domestic] airlines that fly to Bali, currently it records a total of 35 flights per day,” he added.

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He said that the number of passengers has also increased. In the last four days, 5,000 passengers per day arrived in Bali via the airport. This did not include the tourists who traveled overland.

The number of tourists in several areas in Bali such as in Kuta, Tanah Lot, Ubud, Sanur, and Kintamani has also started to increase, he said.

The governor called on the public to follow the health protocols and the regulations in preventing the spread of the coronavirus. “We aim to make the tourists feel comfortable during their stay in Bali, which is classified as green zone,” Koster said, referring to island being a Covid-19 low-risk area.

He emphasized compliance with the health protocols because if the program of reopening Bali for local tourists fails, Bali tourism will be gasping for breath again.

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But if the program runs well, he is optimistic that it will help the national economy to grow in the second half.

“Hopefully, in the fourth quarter, the economy will get better. If possible, it will be close to zero so that we will have a positive growth next year,” he said.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded that Indonesia's economy contracted 5.32 percent year on year in the second quarter of 2020.

(Writer: Kahfi Dirga Cahya | Editor: Kahfi Dirga Cahya)

Source: https://travel.kompas.com/read/2020/08/24/201500627/pariwisata-bali-mulai-pulih-ada-35-penerbangan-per-hari-ke-bali.