hope for tourism in bali as the holiday nears

Bali is seeing a flicker of hope in the increasing tourism since the Island has welcomed the holidaymakers during a long weekend at the end of October.

A surge of hotel occupancy has been lifted by the vacationers up to 30% from that week which previously was at 9% since the devastation of corona virus according to Ricky Putra, chairman of Bali Hotels Association.

Government is taking all the necessary steps to attract the tourists, 13 airports have been exempted of airport tax in the archipelago to boost domestic travel, including Bali’s. Irfan Setiaputra, president director of PT Garuda Indonesia, reported an uptick in ticket demand toward the year-end with an increase in advance booking.

Some part of this boost is to be attributed to the free on going tours and staycations that have been granted to 4400 residents announced in September. It is a part of seven-week tourism dry-run to promote Bali and test its current health and safety protocols.

These 4400 residents have been divided in twelve groups and given two night stays at various resorts between 7th October and 27th November to test and stress run the safety measures.

The purpose of these trips is to promote the "New Normal Bali" through the local tours and participants on social media.

Usually Bali is the busiest when it comes to the resorts, hotels or the tourist attractions during May-September season as it mostly coincides with Australia's winters and the summer break in the northern hampisphere.

“I do hope that in December we will see an increase in domestic tourist arrival in Bali as an initial momentum for the recovery of Bali’s tourism,” Bali Governor Wayan Koster said.