The Jakarta Post reports that despite the continuing surge in COVID-19 infections nationwide, Bali’s tourism industry is demonstrating business improvement.
One encouraging example cited is The Bali Zoo in Gianyar, where the number of visitors is growing.
Emma Chandra, a spokesperson for The Bali Zoo, told The State News Agency Antara: “It’s around 200 to 300 guests per day on weekdays. On weekends, it can reach between 500 and 600 tourists.”
Emma told of how the Zoo reopened for visitors on 11 July where, initially, almost all the visitors were Bali residents. More recently, the Zoo is welcoming domestic visitors, primarily coming from Jakarta and Surabaya.
Meanwhile, PT Angkasa Pura I (PTPAP), Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport managers, records an increase in both flights and passenger numbers.
During November 2020, PTPAP handled 3,898 flights carrying 351,585 passengers. Compared to the previous month of October, this represented a 27.5% increase in flights and a 51.8% increase in passengers.
Commenting on the upward trend in flights and passengers at Bali’s Airport, PTPAP’s general manager, Herry A.Y. Sikado, happily notes a steady upward trend in airport activity over the past six months.
“If we look at the data, we saw significant growth in the past six months, from June to November,” said Sikado, reporting a 56.1% growth in flights and a 101.4% growth in passenger numbers, adding that the average increase for flights was 56.1 %, meanwhile for passenger growth it was 101.4 percent.
In pre-pandemic days, tourism accounted for nearly 60% of Bali’s gross regional product (PDRB).
Due to the Pandemic’s impact, Bali’s economy shrank by 10.98% in Q2 of 2020. At least 2,667 people working in tourism have permanently lost their jobs, with another 73,631 workers sitting at home on indeterminate unpaid leave.
In April 2020, in the early days of the Pandemic, officials measure a month-on-month 93.42% drop in Bali foreign tourists.
To counter the effects of the downturn in business and encourage travelers, both foreign and domestic, to return to the Island, the Ministry of Tourism and the Creative Economy has undertaken education and certification programs addressing cleanliness, health, safety, and environmental concerns (CHSE).
Commenting on the programs underway to reassure the world that Bali is safe to visit, the Minister of Tourism and the Creative Economy, Wishnutama Kusubandio, said in October 2020, “The We Love Bali” program is expected to educate the public about the implementation of health protocols based on CHSE.”
