Tourism is the main source of income on this idyllic “island of the gods” that is home to more than 4 million people, who are mainly Hindu in the mostly Muslim archipelago nation.Before the pandemic, 6.2 million foreigners arrived in Bali each year. Its lively tourism scene faded after the first case of COVID-19 was found in Indonesia in March 2020, with restaurants and resorts shuttered and many workers returning to villages to try to get by.
“The coronavirus outbreak has hammered the local economy horribly,” said Dewa Made Indra, regional secretary of Bali province. “Bali is the region with the most severe economic contraction.” The island reopened to domestic travelers a month later, in August, but in all of 2021 only 51 foreign tourists visited.
More than 1.5 million foreign tourists and 3.1 domestic travelers had visited Bali as of October this year. Bali has suffered greatly in the past. At times, the island's majestic volcanos have rumbled to life, at times erupting or belching ash.
Is that our PM surfing? Is that why he missed the Remembrance Day ceremony?