Officials from the Bali Tourism Agency have recorded the entry of only 45 international tourists within the entirety of 2021.
The Head of Tourism Development from the Bali Tourism Agency, Gunandika, confirmed that the number of international visitors in 2021 was significantly low. “We only received a total of 45 international tourists that arrived through Benoa Port by yachts this year. And this is the worst in our history,” Gunandika said on Monday (13/12).
He explained that the number was a serious drop from 2020 when 1,050,504 international visitors arrived in Bali.
“Although we received over 1 million international visitors in 2020, it was still nothing compared to the situation prior to Covid-19 pandemic, when we received 6,275,210 visitors in 2019,” Gunandika added.
Meanwhile, Bali Governor, I Wayan Koster, previously asked Bali residents to be patient, as they will wait for the situation to get better before reopening the border with fewer restrictions for international tourists. On the other hand, the Head of the Bali Tourism Board, IB Agung Partha Adnyana, stated that the Bali tourism sector had lost its hope that the government would start implementing better policies to revive the economy.
He was also disappointed with the government’s policy that kept changing, thereby confusing many people. This caused businesses to cancel their events due to the restrictions that will be implemented during the upcoming holiday season.
“I was informed that thousands of small events were canceled this holiday season, so I propose the government to allow us to host Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations in open areas. This can be done with strict prevention protocols, such as limited capacities and a rapid antigen test requirement for all the guests,” Adnyana concluded.
