Pandemic pops Bali’s tourism bubble

LALANGLINGGAH VILLAGE, Indonesia — Ni Nyoman Ayu Sutaryani, a mother of three, made a steady living for two decades as a masseuse and yoga instructor at Bali’s luxury hotels and spas. Now at 37 she finds herself back on the farm of her childhood village, standing precariously at the top of a tall bamboo ladder, picking cloves.

It is not the life Ayu had imagined for herself.

But on Bali, which depends heavily on tourism, she is one of thousands of workers who have been forced by the coronavirus pandemic to return to their villages and traditional ways of making a living.

“This is my first time being jobless, and sometimes I want to cry,” Ayu said. “Everything is returning to the old time. That’s what we have to do rather than starving.”

Like Ayu, many have returned to their family farms, helping to plant and harvest crops. Others feed their families by digging for clams in shallow Benoa Bay or by casting fishing lines out to sea from one of Bali’s deserted beaches.

In a sign of how far the economy of the Indonesian island has declined, some rural residents have turned to bartering fruit and vegetables so that they can save their limited cash to buy necessities.

Bali, with a population of 4.4 million and eight times the size of Singapore, is Indonesia’s tourism engine, boasting spectacular beaches, terraced rice fields, scenic temples and ideal weather. Largely Hindu in a predominantly Muslim nation, Bali carved out its identity as a tourist destination decades ago and was once widely viewed from abroad as an independent country. Hoping to capitalize on the Bali name, the central government began a campaign last year to create 10 “new Bali” destinations.

More than half of Bali’s economy depends directly on tourism and a quarter is engaged in tourism-related activities, such as transporting visitors and supplying food to hotels and restaurants. Last year, Bali attracted more than 6 million tourists from abroad and 10 million from Indonesia.

In March, Indonesia banned foreign visitors from the worst-hit countries and, weeks later, extended the ban to all foreign tourists. In May, the government banned domestic tourists from traveling to Bali, although officials and business travelers with a negative coronavirus test were allowed.

The travel restrictions have slammed Bali’s tourism industry. During the first half of the year, the island received 1.1 million foreign tourists, almost all before the pandemic. That was a drop from nearly 2.9 million during the same period last year.

Impatient to revive the economy, Bali’s governor, I Wayan Koster, began gradually reopening the island in July, including restaurants and popular beaches. He hopes to bring back domestic tourists to Bali soon and attract foreign tourists beginning Sept. 11.

The pandemic has forced hotels and other tourist facilities to lay off some workers and cut the pay and hours of others. Larger hotels have kept skeleton staffs on duty, rotating workers in for a week or two at a time, while allowing them to make a little money and return to their villages.

Across the island, some communities give food aid to the unemployed, such as rice, instant noodles, cooking oil and sugar.

But recipients say it is not enough to live on. Many also have debts.

Kadek Merta, 34, said he had been a hotel steward but had not worked since March. “I feel hollow,” he said. “There is no job.

“I can only survive by depending on the sea.”

NYIMAS LAULA/THE NEW YORK TIMES A street at a resort area in southern Bali. More than half of Bali’s economy depends directly on tourism and a quarter is tied to tourism-related activities.