After much hype, Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud wrapped up his Bali holiday on Sunday.
The king and an entourage of more than 1,000 had been visiting Indonesia on their Asia tour, arriving in Bali on March 4 for some “relaxing.”
The group was spread across some of Bali’s most luxurious hotels including the St. Regis (where the king and family had a number of “fangirls” show up trying to meet them), the Mulia, Hilton, The Laguna Resort & Spa, and Bulgari in Uluwatu.
Traveling with that many people and staying at such elite hotels, the trip can’t have been cheap. Not to mention renting hundreds of luxury cars and money going towards shopping.
While we don’t have the exact accounting numbers, the Bali Provincial Tourism Office estimates the king and his group spent about Rp 300 billion during their Bali trip.
The tourism office’s head, Anak Agung Gede Yuniartha, says predictions for the Saudi group’s expenditures certainly took into account the king’s decision to extend his trip. The Saudis were originally supposed to depart on March 9 from Bali, but opted to stay until the 12th since they realized how great Bali is.
“When he was scheduled to vacation in Bali until March 9, we estimated he would spend Rp 250 billion. But then with extending three more days, we estimate Rp 300 million was spent overall,” Yuniartha said in Denpasar, as quoted by Waspada.
Though many travelers expressed annoyance over flight delays caused by the king and his group’s flights, Yuniartha says King Salman positively impacted the island’s economy.
“It’s very positive. He and his entourage bought a lot of Bali handicrafts and other items here.”
Yuniartha says he hopes the Saudi monarch’s visit will be followed by more special visits by people from other countries.
