Once a tourist paradise attracting international tourists, Bali island is still in disrepair after 2 months of opening and has not shown any signs of recovery.
Tourist destinations around the world face a significant drop in tourists amid the epidemic. But few places have been affected as badly as Bali, the most popular destination in Asia.
From January to October this year, Bali only welcomes 45 international guests. This number is considered "pathetic" compared to 6.2 million international visitors in 2019 and 1.05 million in 2020. Especially in October when it was officially opened, only 2 foreign tourists came. , compared to half a million in the same period in 2019. In addition, no direct international flights have landed on the island. This data is confirmed by Bali Central Bureau of Statistics.
A man carries a couch on the beach in the Kuta area of Bali in October. Photo: Putu Sayoga/Bloomberg
Nyoman Gede Gunadika, head of Bali's Tourism Department, told CNN: "It's the number of tourists. lowest foreign visitors we have ever recorded". As a result of strict border control measures, Ngurah Rai International Airport is closed. Most visitors come here by private yacht. From October 14, the airport officially reopened, but mostly only accepted domestic flights from Jakarta. Six weeks after Indonesia opened, only 153 guests around the world applied for a tourist visa, according to the General Department of Immigration Indonesia.
Before the pandemic, Dicky, who sold handmade seashell jewelry to tourists, was making about $20 a day. But nearly two months after Indonesia reopened to visitors from China and 18 other countries, the number of international visitors that Dicky once relied on for sales is still small. "I came here at 8 o'clock and walked all over the beach all day. I tried my best but couldn't sell anything. I don't understand why so many tourists don't come here when the island has reopened." , said Dicky helplessly.
Bali was deserted during the epidemic, even though it was open. Photo: West Australian
From a dream tourist island, Bali becomes dreary and gloomy. In the time when there was no pandemic, the streets were filled with tourists crowded together, now, the streets are empty, the bars and restaurants are empty. The island that used to be "stressed '' in the face of over tourism is now a ghost town and local businesses struggling to stay afloat at the prospect that international tourism may not recover in the near future. many years. 75,000 hotel rooms built along the beaches to meet demand as visitor numbers surged to a record level in 2019. In the same year 2019, TripAdvisor rated this as the top destination in Asia and the fourth in the world.
Immigration policies and confusing, complicated, constantly changing and sometimes contradictory government messages are also keeping international tourists away. For example, Thailand has reintroduced visa-free travel for tourists and since opening in July, the country has attracted more than 40,000 visitors, but to come to Bali, international visitors must face requirements. strict entry requirements because of disease prevention policies from the government. They have to apply for a business visa for 300 USD, because currently the government does not issue tourist visas, multiple PCR tests and buy expensive health insurance. In addition, airfares are also high because there are no direct flights.
Justyna Wrucha, British tourist, is planning a trip to Bali with her husband on December 26. This will be Wrucha's first visit to Bali, the place she's always dreamed of visiting. However, the island's 10-day quarantine policy makes Wrucha uncomfortable, especially for those who have had 2 injections. Initially, the quarantine period was shorter and was only recently increased following concerns about the Omicron variant.
Ray Suryawijaya, head of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association in Bali's Badung District, agrees with Wrucha. With those barriers, the island is unlikely to receive many international visitors, he said. However, people on the island still have a glimmer of hope to welcome domestic guests, when the occupancy rate at hotels is currently 35%. On weekends, about 13,000 domestic tourists visit the island.
Not only facing the scene of "lack of tourists", the island also has some influences from nature. In early December, Emily Damon, from the US, had a vacation on the island of Bali. She was surprised to see that the beach, known as a tourist paradise, was flooded with garbage. She filmed the scene and uploaded the video to TikTok. The video quickly attracted interest, attracting more than 230,000 views and nearly 3,000 comments since December 11.
Emily said she accidentally saw this sad scene while walking in the morning. After a heavy rain, garbage washed ashore. The entire beach that used to be a place for tourists to sunbathe and relax is flooded with plastic waste, bags, plastic packaging, old furniture and other waste.
The online community expressed helplessness and outrage at this phenomenon: "Animals in the ocean are living with this garbage", "We are destroying the planet", "Things are getting worse". every year"... However, some argue that fortunately the pile of garbage has been pushed to the shore by the waves instead of in the ocean, so it can be easier for people to clean up.
In 2019, the Bali government issued a ban on single-use plastic, but it seems that the environmental problem on the island has not been significantly improved. Boracay, the island paradise of the Philippines, is also experiencing pollution. But in early December, taking advantage of the time when the island was empty because of Covid-19 and the blockade order was still in effect, people cleaned up the beaches to create a friendly environment for wildlife.
The Indonesian government says tourism accounts for more than 50% of Bali's economy and 700,000 workers have been laid off since the pandemic began. Bali Governor Wayan Koster issued a manifesto, which called for the island to become less dependent on tourism, and to diversify its economy more into other areas such as fishing and exports. "The development of tourism is being pushed in an incorrect direction and does not benefit other industries," he said. The past two years have given him the impetus to push for the diversification of the island's economy.
