The Indonesian government imposed a ban on all flights to and from mainland China on Feb. 5 amid fears of the novel coronavirus spreading to the country.
While Astawa confirmed that Bali had seen a decline in the number of Chinese tourist arrivals, he said that tourist arrivals from other countries remained stable. Astawa was referring to an article published on Saturday in the Mail Online titled “Bali is transformed from tourist Mecca to a ghost town as Chinese tourists are banned because of the spread of coronavirus”.
Bali Hotel Association chairman Ricky Putra agreed with Astawa, saying that “tourists from other countries are still coming to Bali”.