MATARAM - A total of 1,600 foreign tourists came from Bali to vacation in the three Gili tourist area, North Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, because activities on the Island of the Gods were temporarily suspended during the Caka New Year Silence Day 1944.
Chairman of the Gili Hotels Association (GHA) Lalu Kusnawan said the foreign tourists came from Bali to the tourist areas of Gili Meno, Air, and Trawangan (Matra) using fast boats.
"The foreign tourists started arriving to Gili Matra since three days before the Nyepi Day celebration, and the peak was on Wednesday (2/3)," he said, quoted by Antara, Thursday, March 3.
Of the 1,600 foreign tourists who came, he said, around 1,000 people enjoyed their holidays on Gili Trawangan, the rest spread to Gili Meno and Gili Air.
Kusnawan added, the foreign tourists will be in three dyke for three to five days. Then they will return to Bali after activities return to normal.
"There are no hotel managers who offer Nyepi Day packages like during normal conditions (before COVID-19), so purely tourists come using the services of online travel bureaus," he said.
The presence of thousands of tourists to Gili Matra certainly has an impact on all tourism activities on Gili Matra which have been deserted from tourist visits since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the whole world in 2020.
In addition to hotels, said Kusnawan, the arrival of foreign guests also provides benefits for local communities, such as stall traders, bicycle rental, diving equipment rental (snorkelling) to traditional Lombok transportation (cidomo).
"If you look at the impact of Nyepi Day, it is quite large for tourism actors in the three Gilis, when compared to the World Superbike (WSBK) Mandalika in November 2021, it is nothing," he said.
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