Jakarta, Dec 23 (Antara) - Hotels in the tourist resort island of Bali are gearing up to welcome visitors with special offers in the run-up to the Christmas and year-end festivities following the eruption of Mount Agung late last month.
Bali is Indonesia's largest popular foreign tourist destination, contributing over 40 percent to the country's foreign tourist arrivals. Last year, Bali had attracted 4.92 million foreign tourists to the country's total foreign tourist arrivals of 12.02 million.
Over four million tourists have visited Bali in the first eight months of 2017, an almost 120 percent year-on-year increase. Hence, Bali is the main asset for the government's efforts to increase the number of foreign tourist visits.
The country is projected to further invest in infrastructure, including the construction of the Benoa Cruise Ship Terminal in Bali, to surpass the target of 20 million foreign tourists by the start of 2020. It promises steady market growth, which is why the government is serious in its efforts to provide security and comfort to the tourists.
However, Mount Agung's eruption in late November will undeniably have an impact on Bali's tourism.
After rumbling since August 2017, the 3,142-meter-high Mount Agung finally erupted on Nov 27, forcing the temporary closure of the I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport for three days and the cancellation of at least 445 flights.
In the face of the eruption, the government and tourism stakeholders are making all-out efforts to ensure security, safety, and comfort of visitors in Bali, particularly in the face of the Christmas and the New Year 2018 festivities.
Several hotels in Denpasar, Bali, have agreed to provide a one-night free lodging facility to travelers who fail to continue their journey if the airport is closed due to the impact of Mount Agung's ash.
"This is a form of attention by the hotel industry to restore the confidence of tourists visiting Bali, especially Denpasar," Chairman of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants Indonesia (PHRI) Denpasar Ida Bagus Sidharta Putra noted after signing a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Denpasar on Monday.
The memorandum of understanding was signed with Head of the Denpasar Tourism Office M. A. Dezire Mulyani at the Griya Santrian Hotel, Sanur.
According to Mulyani, who is familiarly called Gusde, the free overnight stay facility is only offered to domestic or foreign tourists who had earlier been staying at certain hotels in Denpasar's PHRI member hotels.
The hotelier explained that the stay for one night will be provided according to the conditions outlined in the previous booking that is breakfast or room only, for instance.
As for the next few days, if the guest chooses to extend the stay in the hotel concerned due to reasons, such as the airport not yet being opened or operated, then it will provide the lowest price applied in that hotel.
He explained the budget for a free overnight stay along with the lowest price is payable from the allocation of the hotel concerned.
On the occasion, as many as 18 hotel representatives from a total of 31 hotel members of PHRI Denpasar were present and agreed on providing the facility. Gusde expects all hotels of the PHRI Denpasar members would provide similar services, so that tourists will feel comfortable while dealing with the impact of natural disasters.
To this end, the guests, who are staying, will be provided information on the policy if the airport is closed due to the eruption of Mount Agung.
"Once there is an eruption and the airport is closed, we will urge guests, who should have left, to stay temporarily at the hotel. We will contact the consul and airport, and when there is certainty that the airport will be opened, we will transport the guests to the airport," he said.
Speaking in connection with the transportation provided to the airport, Mulyani said his side has cooperated with the Denpasar city government to provide buses that can also be used if guests wanted to change routes by land to the nearest area.
"A grant of Rp300 million from the Denpasar Tourism Promotion Board will be utilized for the initial phase of transportation," he added.
In the meantime, PHRI Denpasar noted that the hotel occupancy rate in Denpasar had begun to improve ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays after recording a decrease in the face of the eruption of Mount Agung.
"We have to be optimistic and hopefully there would be no cancellations of hotel reservations," Chairman of Denpasar PHRI Ida Bagus Sidharta Putra remarked in Denpasar on Tuesday (Dec 19). The occupancy rates of 31 hotel members of PHRI in Denpasar had increased by an average of 15 percentage points in the past week.
Gradually, the hotel occupancy rate is expected to rise to 65-70 percent until January, 2018, he stated, adding that hotels had received growing orders for room reservations from foreign tourists.
Currently, the occupancy rate of hotels in the city had dropped to only 15 percent from normally 80 percent before the volcano began to show signs of volcanic activities over the past two months.
Several tourists, especially foreign travelers, have cancelled their trip to one of the world's popular tourist destinations after the repeated explosions of Mount Agung that is spewing volcanic ash and thick smoke into the air, thereby disrupting flight schedules to and from Bali.
The authorities have made assurance to tourists that it is safe to visit Bali beyond the eight- to 10-kilometer radius from the crater of the active volcano.***1***
(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 23-12-2017 15:51 |
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar