K

etut Swarsa Dipa, 38, hasn’t slept well in five days. A freelance Balinese tour driver, he has been worrying about how to provide for his family.

“Seven couples have already canceled their plans to visit Bali,” Dipa said. “So, I have no job now.”

Tourism is the backbone of Bali’s economy, but it has fallen off drastically following Mount Agung’s eruption at the end of November.

The streets of the usually tourist-friendly areas of Kuta, Seminyak and Ubud have been quieter since Mt. Agung was upgraded to the highest alert level on Nov. 29, which was followed by the temporary closure of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport for two-and-a-half days because of volcanic ash.

Following the airport’s closure, the number of foreign tourist arrivals leading up to the usually busy holiday season has dropped to around 6,000 per day, compared to an average of 13,000 tourists per day in the same period last year.

Hotel occupancy rates have also dwindled from 60 percent to around 30 to 40 percent.

Dipa has felt the fallout from the airport’s closure.

Tourists from Australia, Germany and India sent him e-mails notifying him that they have canceled their trips.

“I am now thinking of finding another job to earn money,” said Dipa, who has worked in tourism for the past 10 years. “Maybe I will open a food stall or whatever. I’m not really sure.”

The decrease in tourist activity was also felt by Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (Asita) chairman Ketut Ardana.

“My company usually handles 400 guests; it has decreased by around 80 percent,” he said, adding that other travel agencies faced similar rates.

Ardana said a travel warning issued by the Chinese government was one of the main reasons for the high cancelation rates, as China had dominated foreign tourist arrivals to Bali.

On the domestic front, popular travel agency Bayu Buana said it had yet to experience a significant drop in demand for Bali tour packages.

“The demand so far has been stable,” marketing officer Farandi Wijaya told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

“It hasn’t increased a lot from last year, but it hasn’t decreased a lot either.”

Mariska Adriani, a 26-year-old graphic designer from Jakarta, said her family’s Bali vacation on Dec. 29 will continue as planned, despite fears over Mt. Agung.

“We have surrendered it to the Almighty,” she said jokingly.

Cindy Tumilaar, 50, on the other hand, has canceled her scheduled family trip to Bali, citing the uncertainty around the volcano as the main reason.

She had initially booked the trip after Mt. Agung first erupted on Nov. 21, thinking that the situation would calm down. However, when a second eruption occurred on Nov. 25, she decided that it was too risky.

“I didn’t want to take a gamble,” Cindy, a mother of two, said. “If something happened and our flight was canceled, then the kids’ vacation would be wasted.”

Her family will fly to Singapore for the New Year instead.

Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika said the significant drop in tourist activity should be handled by all the industry stakeholders on the island.

“I think the key is a propaganda war to fight against the misunderstanding that scares tourists away from Bali,” Pastika said. “Let’s combat that by spreading positive news about Bali.”

Gusti Kade Sutawa, chairman of the Bali Tourism Community Alliance, said the volcano’s impact on tourism must be handled properly to prevent a negative impact on the Balinese economy.

Sutawa said tourism employs at least 80,000 people across Bali, with an additional 100,000 people working in other related fields.

“Real action from tourism stakeholders and the government is badly needed,” he said, citing the need for an information center for tourists as one example.