Tourism is undoubtedly one of the biggest contributors to Bali’s economy, but money flowing in from the industry is going to dry up considerably amid the global health emergency caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak.
That’s according to the Bali Tourism Board, who said yesterday that the temporary ban imposed on flights to and from mainland China could potentially inflict a major loss for tourism on the Island of the Gods.
“As a result of the ban towards Chinese tourists, there has been a significant decline. [Bali tourism is] expected to lose IDR1 trillion (US$73 million) per month, starting from next month,” Bali Tourism Board Chairwoman Ida Bagus Agung Partha Adnyana said, as quoted by Kompas.
According to Adnyana, the figure was derived from the assumption that each Chinese tourist spends an average of IDR10 million during their stay on the island, meaning that Bali is expected to see a decrease of around 100 thousand Chinese tourists each month due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Tourists from China were the second-largest group of foreign travelers passing through Ngurah Rai International Airport last year, numbering in nearly 1.2 million visitors.
Adnyana added there have been up to 40 thousand cancellations of hotel bookings in Bali since the coronavirus scare.
In 2018, Indonesia took in US$16.7 billion from tourism, about roughly 40 percent of which was contributed by Bali.
The novel coronavirus, now officially named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization, has killed more than 1,300 people and infected over 64,400 as of this afternoon. The disease has so far affected at least 27 other countries around the world, including Singapore and Malaysia. Indonesia has yet to confirm a COVID-19 case in the country.
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