Hotel Occupancy In Bali Hits 60% Over Eid Holiday

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The 2022 Eid holiday has bought blessings to Bali and Indonesia’s tourism sector. For the first time since 2020, families who lived apart from one another were able to travel to be together over the Muslim holy festival.

One of the biggest indicators that the bounce back from Covid-10 is underway was the huge jump in hotel occupancy across Bali. According to the Deputy Chair of the Environmental Culture, and the PR representative of the Bali Hotel and Restaurant Association, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Suryawijaya, the average occupancy leading up to the Eid has been just 30%. 

In a statement to the press, he went on to say that the increase in hotel occupancy started on Thursday 28th April and continued into the middle of this week. Data from Bali’s Ngurah Rai airport showed that in the weeks leading up to Eid, domestic arrivals had been averaged 8,000 people per day. This then increased significantly to 18,000 people her day. 

Travelers were not just arriving by air, nor were they staying in Bali only. The ports of Gilimanuk, Sanur, and Padang Bai saw huge increases in the number of travelers boarding the boats to Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and the Gili Islands. Sanur experienced record numbers much to the delight of local travel operators.

Domestic travelers were encouraged to book through special deals and huge discounts. Domestic travelers tend to book hotels in areas like Nusa Due, Tanjung Benoa, Jimbaran, Kuta, Legain and as far as Seminyak. Hotels in the Canggu area also saw a significant rise in domestic bookings. 

Despite the sudden spike, numbers are expected to decline again in the coming weeks. It is predicted that hotel occupancy will return to an average of 30%, though the sector is hopeful that over the next few months bookings will steadily rise. 

With the visa on arrival program now open to travelers from 60 countries, and plenty of online travel deals for all-inclusive and return flight packages, it won’t be long until Bali tourism is back thriving again. 

Both the government, local communities, and the tourism sector are doing all that they can to ensure that the economy bounces back after experiencing such losses during the pandemic. Since Bali is hosting the G20 Summit in November 2022, a concerted effort is being made by authorizing across the island to ensure that Bali is thriving come to the end of the year. Indonesia needs to put on a good show for the delegates and heads of state who are coming to Bali to discuss sustainable development and the future of the global economy.  

In addition to increased hotel occupancy, another key sign is that the easing of restrictions is set to stay in the resumption of regular flight services to Bali. Just this week airline giants Emirates return to the runway at Ngurah Rai airport. Emirates has recommenced their five times weekly flight service from Dubai to Bali. The airline has confirmed that they will be operating the service seven times a week by July 2022. 

Airlines like Australia’s JetStar are offering a huge range of flight deals across South East Asia and the Pacific, with Bali being the number one destination for hundreds of thousands of Australians every year. 

The next sustained influx of international travelers may come in June, July, and August, coinciding with the European summer holidays. Young travelers from across Europe have had to put off their backpacking adventures for the last two years due to strict travel regulations. Across Europe, many governments have reduced their Covid-19 restrictions to nominal levels. It is hoped that this relaxation of rules across the global north will have a positive impact on the hotel sector in Bali.