Deputy Governor of Bali: Expensive Airline Ticket Prices Affect Domestic Tourists

Deputy Governor of Bali Tjok Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati /ANTARA / Ni Putu Putri Mujantari

DENPASAR - Deputy Governor of Bali Tjok Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati (Cok Ace) said that the current high ticket price increase affected the number of visits, especially domestic tourists to the Island of the Gods.

"We can see it from domestic tourist visits, especially. In the past, domestic tourists were very far away from foreign tourists, but now they are squeezed. Sometimes foreign tourists fly 10 thousand per day, domestic only 11,000 people per day", said the Deputy Governor of Bali in Badung Regency, Thursday, September 22.

Cok Ace said that this figure affected Bali's recovery, so his party is currently discussing efforts to reduce air ticket prices, especially for domestic travel to the Ministry of Transportation.

Cok Ace said that until now there has been no continuation of the request because the central decision also depends on and is influenced by today's global conditions.

When met at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center (BNDCC), the Deputy Governor of Bali also saw the condition of the decline in the number of domestic tourist arrivals occurring imperceptibly.

"I don't feel the decrease because, on the one hand, we are promoting, on the other hand, there is a counter-productive ticket price, it doesn't really affect it but the increase should be significant, so it's not controlled a little because of the ticket", said the Deputy Governor from Ubud.

Seeing these conditions, the Bali Provincial Government is currently aggressively restoring conditions by organizing various kinds of events to attract tourists.

"If we look at the number of foreign tourist visits to Bali, which is 10 thousand per day, so it is still below the conditions before COVID-19 which used to be around 17 thousand - 18 thousand. Around 60-70 percent have come, but it's not directly in line with the occupancy rate", he said explaining the occupancy conditions of hotels in Bali.

From his observations, if you look at the current hotel occupancy, several hotels in Nusa Dua have been filled to 40-80 percent, there are even certain events where the occupancy reaches 100 percent.

The Deputy Governor of Bali realizes that equity has not yet occurred, whereas other areas such as Sanur, Kuta, Ubud, Lovina, and others have only been filled by no more than 20 percent, because penetration has only been carried out in Nusa Dua.