Domestic tourists flock to Jimbaran Beach, Bali during the mass leave this week (23 Oct – 2 Nov). Entering the last day of collective leave, visitors are seen still enjoying the beauty of the sunset on Jimbaran Beach, Sunday, November 1, 2020.
Jimbaran Beach is known for its cafes that prepare seafood menus and are directly on the beach. Apart from enjoying a menu of Balinese culinary specialties, tourists can also enjoy the beach atmosphere and the beautiful sunset on the western horizon.
According to data from the Bali Provincial Tourism Office, an increase in the number of tourists began to appear since October 26, 2020. The number of visits at that time was estimated at 5,000 people. This number continues to increase. On October 27, 2020, tourists are predicted to increase to 6,300 people. The drastic increase of 9,500 people occurred on October 28, 2020.
This condition has an impact on the turnover of cafes along Jimbaran Beach which increases up to 60 percent from normal days. One of the cafe managers in Jimbaran Beach, Ketut Sudiasih, admitted that he was happy with the arrival of domestic guests on this long holiday, because usually it is so quiet due to the pandemic, but during this period of holiday it was crowded with domestic tourists. They even give the visitors a 15-20 percent covid-19 discount. The increase in the number of visitors began to occur on October 28, 2020 or the first day of joint leaves.
Apart from cafes, a number of hotels have also felt the impact of this joint vacation. The number of hotel occupancies that were usually quiet due to the pandemic has begun to increase. Like the Intercontinental Jimbaran Hotel, which holds a variety of entertainment to pamper guests. The hotel applies a discount of between 15 and 50 percent at cafe restaurants and other hotel facilities. A number of visitors, mostly from Jakarta, claim to be safe because all the locations they visit in Bali, including hotels and cafes, have implemented a disciplined health protocol.
Head of the Bali Provincial Tourism Office, I Putu Astawa, said Bali tourism was still in the process of being able to adjust to the impact of the pandemic that had not yet ended. According to him, tourist visits are a blessing for Bali, which during the last eight months the tourism sector has plummeted. He said that long vacations with a high number of tourist visits during the pandemic are two things that need to be harmonized. Health is important and the main thing that must be considered. But the economic for Bali itself is also important for the survival of many parties. He also mentioned Bali as one of the prima donna tourist destinations abroad, welcoming domestic tourist visits in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially those coming during the 2020 long holiday.
The government harmonizes and balances health and economic interests. So they are trying to create a safe, comfortable vacation without crowds.
Meanwhile, a number of tourist-attraction managers in Bali are optimistic that Bali tourism can recover soon. There are many factors related to the beliefs of tourism object managers on the Island of the Gods. First apart from the number of confirmed positive daily cases of Covid-19 in regencies / cities in Bali which continues to decreased. Also the cure rate for Covid-19 patients continues to increase drastically.
In addition, the incessant socialization, supervision and monitoring of health protocols carried out by the Task Force for handling Covid-19 is also recognized as a determining factor. Public awareness to obey and implement health programs such as wearing masks, washing hands, and maintaining distance is also believed to further reduce the number of transmission and exposure to the Corona virus in Bali.
Even though currently there are no foreign tourists because it hasn’t been opened yet, however, with the arrival of domestic tourists to Sangeh tourism object, they are optimist that in the future it will be crowded like before.
It can also be seen from the tourist’s visit during the long holiday of mass leave some time ago. It was said, from the average number of visits, during the long holiday, there were around 100 people who came to Sangeh tourism object.
Health protocols are also implemented, according to government recommendations; body temperature checking before walk-in, providing hand washing facilities at tourist sites, using masks for each visitor, and monitoring visitors to keep their distance and not crowd while on tour. The key is that all parties, both tourism managers and visitors or tourists, are aware and obey the health program as recommended by the government / Covid-19 Handling Task Force.
For now, from monitoring in other tourism objects, such as Bali Zoo, Bali Bird Park, Ceking, Sukawati Art Market, Tirta Empul, Ubud Monkey Forest, Gianyar, Bali, almost most of the tourism object managers have implemented the program. Apart from implementing strict health protocols, joint officers from the army, police, ministry of health, and related agencies also continue to aggressively supervise, monitor, and unannounced inspection. For visitors who were caught violating, such as not wearing masks, and making the crowd reprimanded to guidance.
Regarding the implementation of strict health protocols in tourist objects in Bali, one of the tourist attraction visitors, Gusti Ayu Purnami, admitted that there is no problem with being guarded or monitored by the authorities while on tour. For her, there is no problem because the goal is for the common good. In fact, the visitors are grateful and happy and at the same time feel comfortable on vacation with family because someone reminds us.
This conclude that although the pandemic is still exist, Bali is still a favourite destination for travellers on vacation. To the tune of 109 thousand tourists came through I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport. From 23 October to 1 November 2020, the total arrivals and departures are 109 thousand passengers. This number was dominated by those who came from Jakarta, Surabaya, Makassar and Lombok.
The peak of arrivals occurred on October 28, 2020, with a total of 9,500 passengers. The backflow occurred on November 1, 2020, totalling 11,500 passengers. An increase in the number of visits was also conveyed by the Head of the Bali Provincial Tourism Office, Putu Astawa. Although is not too significant, he admitted that there was an increase in the number of tourist visits to several destinations in Bali.
He is grateful that even in the midst of a pandemic, tourists still want to visit Bali. He believes that there has been a positive movement in the economy during the long holiday yesterday. The economic impact is felt because tourists definitely rent hotels, transportation and visit tourist objects. Surely, it was a bit of fresh air for Bali to breathe.
He continued, in the normal atmosphere before the pandemic, the number of tourist visits per day was around 16 thousand people. On the long holiday on vacation together yesterday, the number of tourists who came on vacation was half the number on normal days before the pandemic, namely 9,500 people.
The number is entirely domestic tourists because foreign tourists are still not allowed to be accepted. For foreign tourists it is still closed. That, depending on the country when he will allow his people to travel. This is something that is difficult to predict for foreign tourists. Hopefully it will be early in 2021 after the vaccine is available.
Let’s pray and keep the positive vibes!
