Governor Koster: Middle East conflict impacts decline in tourists to Bali

Melasti Beach, Badung, Bali/ANTARA ILUSTRASI

BADUNG - Bali Governor Wayan Koster said the US-Israel conflict with Iran in the Middle East region has had an impact on the number of foreign tourist visits (wisman).

"There has been a decrease (in tourist visits) in the last 4 days, one day it was about 800 people from the Middle East," said Koster on the sidelines of the Korve Bersih Sampah at Jimbaran Beach, Badung, Thursday, March 5.

Governor Koster saw that although European tourists were dominant in coming to Bali through the Middle East route because there were no direct flights to Bali, the decline in tourists was dominated by tourists of Middle Eastern nationality.

This is because European tourists can still adjust the departure route such as switching through the Singapore or Thailand route.

"If Europe, of course, will adjust the departure route, which used to go through Dubai or Doha, it will no longer go there, maybe Singapore or Thailand," he said.

"If it is Russia that goes directly to Bali, those who go through the Middle East (other European countries) cannot go directly, and if they want to transit in Dubai or Doha, they can't," he continued.

For this reason, the Bali Provincial Government hopes that the US-Israel conflict with Iran, which has an impact on the closure of a number of airspaces in the Middle Eastern countries, will soon end.

Although he did not mention the difference in the number of visits by tourists from the Middle East during normal days with post-conflict, Koster said the decline in the number of visits to Bali was greatly influenced by the escalation of the conflict.

"Hopefully it will stop quickly (the conflict), the impact is a decrease of 800 people for today, and later there will definitely be a consolidation of route improvements, hopefully it can be stable," said the number one person in the Bali Provincial Government.

Separately, based on data from I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport itself since February 26, 2026, 30 international flights have been canceled.

For arrivals to Bali alone, the airport recorded 15 flights that were canceled, consisting of three flights through the Etihad airline route Abu Dhabi (AUH)-Denpasar (DPS), six times on the Emirates airline route Dubai (DXB)-Denpasar (DPS), and six times on the Qatar Airways route Doha (DOH)-Denpasar (DPS).