Koster denies Bali is empty: It's a lie! I have the data

DENPASAR - Bali Governor Wayan Koster responded to the news that tourism on the island of Bali was quiet during the Christmas and New Year holidays (Nataru). The news was confirmed by Koster as a lie.

"Lies. I have data. Every day the total increases. Now per day 17 thousand foreign tourists, previously 20 thousand (foreign tourists)," said Koster after attending the Bali DPRD Plenary Meeting at the Bali Governor's Office, in Denpasar, Monday, December 22.

Koster said that compared to 2024, the number of foreign tourists (tourists) in 2025 has increased and reached 6.7 million people from the target of 7 million tourists. According to him, there are still two weeks left of the end-of-year holiday.

"Now the total from January to December 16 (2025), has reached 6.7 million (tourists in Bali). In

2024 there are 6.3 million, up kan. (Target 2025)

"7 million, this will go up, there are still two weeks left," he added.

However, Koster admitted that the number of visits increased inversely with the occupancy rate of hotels in Bali which was not high. This is because foreign tourists look for accommodation through the Airbnb application which does not pay taxes to the government.

"If that's another matter. So there are those who use accommodation facilities through Airbnb, who do not pay taxes. The result is that the increase in the number of tourists is not proportional to the increase in hotel accommodation and hotel and restaurant taxes," he explained.

"I checked the lowest hotel at 60 percent (occupancy). The Meru (hotel) is 80 percent, the star-rated hotel in Nusa Dua is 80 percent. So it should be higher than that," he explained.

From the data owned by Koster, the number of foreign visitors during the nataru moment in 2025 will increase by about 8 percent compared to 2024.

"Tempo hari naik 11 persen. Sekarang hitung saja per data hari ini 6,3 juta 2024. Sekarang 6,7 juta, naik 400 ribu. Jadi kalau 10 persen saja dari 6,3 juta berarti 630 ribu. berarti kurang dari 10 persen kenaikannya kira-kira 8 persen," jelasnya.