Occupancy rates plunge to only 11 percent in Bali

A'an Suryana and Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar/Jakarta

Bali does not seem to be much of a holiday destination these days. With taxis standing idle, restaurants seen half empty and hotels offering sharply-discounted rates, one would find it hard to believe that this is the same island that only less than two weeks ago used to be a favorite among travelers around the world.

The bombings have really changed everything.

Few foreign tourists were spotted in the lobby of the Grand Mirage hotel on Thursday, likewise at the Grand Hyatt Hotel Bali and Sheraton Lagoon.

In fact, most hotels on the island are facing hardships less than two weeks after the incident, considered the world's deadliest terrorist attack since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Massive cancellations of hotel room bookings have brought down Bali hotels' occupancy rates to a record-low of 11 percent on average.

"The occupancy rates are going down very quickly. One week after the incident, we heard the average was still hovering above 20 percent. But, the latest data shows that the average has now reached around 11 percent," Yanti Sukamdani, chairperson of the country's hotel and restaurant association, said on Thursday in Jakarta.

She was speaking after a talk show on tourism following the Bali bombs attacks, which claimed more than 190 lives and injured hundreds of others, mostly foreigners.

Prior to the bomb blasts, Bali's hotel occupancy rates averaged more than 70 percent.

"This is bad, because hotels' break-even point usually stands at an occupancy rate of 40 percent," Yanti added.

Five-star hotels such as Grand Hyatt Bali and Sheraton Lagoon in Nusa Dua are said to have experienced historic lows in occupancy rates due to the mass cancellations of bookings by travelers for fears over security.

The deadly strikes have tainted the image of the resort island as a safe haven and prime destination for holidaymakers.

In the wake of the attack, most countries whose citizens had been among the victims warned their citizens against traveling to the island, and even Indonesia.

So far, 24 countries have confirmed the deaths of their citizens because of the attacks.

To date, hotels on the island have registered more than 3,000 cancellations, both by individuals and groups, and the figure is feared to be rapidly increasing, Yanti added.

Echoing Yanti, Meity Robot, the director of the Association of Indonesian Travel and Tour Agencies, said the impact of the blasts were so damaging that up to 90 percent of the planned international conferences in Bali had been canceled.

"The impact will be enormous. I'm not just talking about those directly involved in the sector, such as hotels, travel agents and restaurants.

"But also those who are involved indirectly such as beach masseurs or the people who braid tourists' hair, or others. There are so many people like them in Bali," Meity, also present at the talk show, said.

Some 80 percent of the province's income is derived from tourism, which directly absorbs around 40 percent of the population. The island lures around 1.5 million foreign tourists annually.

Last year, the tourist industry in Bali, with around 1,400 hotels and almost 750 restaurants, generated some US$1.4 billion or more than 25 percent of the nation's foreign exchange revenue from the industry, which totaled $5.4 billion.