ER
TOURISM players in Bali can only hope again, because the great opportunity on this year’s Chinese New Year cannot be achieved due to the imposition of restrictions on community activities which affect the number of tourist visits.
According to the Chairman of the Bali Villa Association, Gede Sukarta, the tourists who dominate the visit to the Island of the Gods during the Chinese New Year celebrations from Singapore, China and Taiwan. However, due to the pandemic, flights must be closed, so that foreign tourists cannot vacation on the Island of the Gods.
“This hope is getting smaller, he continued, because of the various implementation of restrictions on community activities (PPKM) policies that have an impact on the arrival of domestic tourists. Even though various promos have been offered, they are not enough to attract the attention of visitors,” he said.
He added, in my villa only 1 or 2 rooms are filled, the rest is empty, even the neighboring villas are closed. In normal conditions during Chinese New Year, the occupancy rate of villas in Bali can be close to 100 percent. However, due to the pandemic, the occupancy rate has become low and it is increasingly difficult for tourism actors, especially to pay for operational costs and employee salaries.
Separately, General Manager of Harris Hotel Sunset Road Bali Nyoman Wirayasa said this year’s Chinese New Year holiday did not cause a significant increase in occupancy rates, because PPKM is considered to have worsened the condition of the tourism industry.
“Previously in normal conditions our occupancy reached 90%, but now it is still single digits. On the other hand, the hotel still appreciates every decision made by the government as an effort to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic which has hit Bali for 11 months and worsened economic conditions,” Nyoman Wirayasa concluded. [bisnis.com/photo special]
