Bali tourists say Coronavirus won't spoil their holidays

Record ID: 1461757

  • Title: Bali tourists say Coronavirus won't spoil their holidays
  • Date: 4th March 2020
  • Summary: BALI, INDONESIA (MARCH 4, 2020) (REUTERS) ARRIVAL AREA OF BALI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT NGURAH RAI VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ARRIVING AT BALI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SIGN BOARD WITH ARRIVAL INFORMATION PEOPLE WEARING MASKS WALKING AT ARRIVAL AREA VARIOUS WORKER SPRAYING DISINFECTANT OFFICIAL INSTALLING THERMO SCANNERS AT IMMIGRATION ENTRANCE DISINFECTANT SPRAYER MACHINE HEAD OF AIRPORT
  • Embargoed: 18th March 2020 15:06
  • Keywords: Bali airport coronavirus preparedness tourism
  • Location: BALI, INDONESIA
  • City: BALI, INDONESIA
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA001C3MX6BR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:The idyllic holiday island of Bali has also been hit by the effects of the coronavirus crisis, with 40,000 hotel bookings already having been cancelled and the island's economy standing to lose almost $110 million per month as Bali's Tourism Board reported.
    With only two cases reported so far, the island particularly suffers from the cancellation of all flights to and from China, one of its biggest tourist markets.
    Around a million Chinese tourists visit the holiday island every year. It is the second-largest group of foreign arrivals after Australians.
    Bali's airport spokesman told state news agency Antara this week that in the first half of February about 740,000 people visited the island, 16.25% fewer than the same period last year, despite precautionary measures like spraying disinfectants or measuring the temperature of all passengers upon arrival.
    Bali's Deputy Governor, Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati, told media after a meeting of the local parliament that tourism in Bali has declined by 30 percent due to the coronavirus outbreak.
    Tourists who lounged at Bali's idyllic beaches said the situation was still manageable as only a few positive cases had been reported.
    Indonesia President, Joko Widodo, had announced on Monday that a mother and daughter had tested positive to the virus. The discovery of the first cases came after some medical experts had raised concerns about lack of vigilance and a risk of undetected cases in the country of more than 260 million people.
    (Production: I Wayan Sukarda, Sultan Anshori, Heru Asprihanto, Ute Swart)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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