JAKARTA, 18 August 2020: Bali’s tourism industry mayl have to make do with domestic travellers until the end of the year government officials warned at the weekend.
Plans to open Bali to international tourism in October following the opening to domestic travel in July faded as government official told local media reopening to international tourism would be postponed to much later in the year or even the start of 2021.
In other news, the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry confirmed discussions had also focused on turning Bali into a work hub for foreigners, particularly in the high-tech sector. But like opening the island to international travel, the plan has been shelved for now.
It is more likely that Bali’s tourism industry will work on reviving the island’s meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions which delivers much high revenue when compared to leisure travel.
But until there are signs the MICE market could recover the priority is to promote domestic tourism.
“We won’t be welcoming foreign tourists to the island until the end of this year,” a tourism official told local media at the weekend.
Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama Kusubandio, who is concurrently Head of the Tourism and Creative Economy Agency (Barekraf), has said that economic recovery in the tourism sector would be upgraded to become a major government programme in 2021, according to an Antara news report.
“We also have to pay attention to the development of 3A aspects (attractions, accessibility, and amenities) especially in the five Super Priority Destinations,” the minister said in a statement at the weekend.
The programme will prioritise marketing and promotions in five priority destinations, namely Lake Toba, Borobudur, Mandalika, Labuan Bajo, and Likupang.
(Source: Antara)
