DENPASAR - Deputy Governor of Bali Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati or Cok Ace conveyed the complaints of tourism actors in Bali when receiving a visit from Commission IX of the DPR.
Cok Ace said tourism actors who are currently in a very depressed situation. Because there are no signs of a significant revival of the tourism sector.
According to him, the decision to open the international border on October 14, 2021 gave fresh air to tourism players in Bali.
However, in fact, the policy has no significant effect on the recovery of the tourism sector.
The opening of international borders has no impact on increasing the number of foreign tourist visits to the Island of the Gods and throughout 2021, his party noted that only 41 foreign tourists entering Bali.
"Before the pandemic, the number of visits reached 6.3 million," said Cok Ace, Thursday, January 27.
Cok Ace said that this protracted downturn has made most Balinese people who depend on the tourism sector feel very depressed. Moreover, a number of businessmen had increased their debt to reorganize the tourist accommodation facilities they managed.
"They had high hopes, so they added debt to clean the pool, made the air conditioner cold again and the carpet didn't smell bad. It's like guarding a shop, we re-arrange our merchandise, wipe the storefront. But the buyers didn't come until our storefront got dusty again," he said.
Cok Ace mentioned a number of policies that need to be studied for the recovery of Bali tourism. First, the conditions for direct flights to Bali, which according to him, must be evaluated.
Because it is impossible for an airline company from Europe to want to send a plane that only carries 25 passengers with a fairly long flight duration.
The second problem is the complicated mechanism for managing visas that tourists complain about. Besides being complicated, the quota of 1,500 foreigners per day for destinations throughout Indonesia is also very small.
The reason is that before the pandemic, Bali had 16 to 17 thousand tourists. This input is expected to get the attention of the ranks of Commission IX of the DPR to be coordinated with the government.
"Another thing that is also burdensome for tourists is the cost of handling COVID-19 that is charged to them," he said.
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