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or Tourism Minister Arief Yahya, the impact of the rumbling volcano on Bali, although easing dramatically, has been apocalyptic for Indonesia’s tourist industry.

“There have been no Chinese tourists coming to Bali,” said Arief.

“That is after China issued a travel warning [last month] telling its citizens to stay away from Bali. The country has not revoked it to this day, despite the alert status for the volcano being eased.”

China accounts for at least 15 percent of the expected 14 million foreign tourists visiting Indonesia this year. Bali contributes around 40 percent of Indonesia’s total tourism revenue, according to the ministry.

The rumbling volcano on the resort island and the absence of Chinese tourists have crippled Indonesia’s tourist industry as officials scramble to find ways to ease worries over the safety of holidaying on the Island of the Gods.

Aware of the importance to mitigate the impact of the volcanic activity, the Tourism Ministry will allocate Rp 100 billion (US$7.4 million) in the next three months to aid recovery.

“In the budget we will provide promotional packages in the first three months next year so that Bali’s tourism can immediately recover,” he said on Thursday.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will visit Bali this week and Vice President Jusuf Kalla will celebrate the New Year on the island to send a comforting signal that the island is safe, as an eruption will only affect the area within 10 kilometers of the volcano’s crater.

Mount Agung, the highest point on Bali, is 75 km from the tourist hub of Kuta and 52 km from Ubud, an iconic landscape known for its rainforest and terraced rice paddies.

As many foreign visitors have decided to stay away from celebrating their year-end holidays in Bali because of the volcanic activity, the government has confirmed it can only lure 14 million foreign tourists from the target of 15 million this year.

The Tourism Ministry has estimated a whopping $1.2 billion in potential losses for Bali’s tourism sector this year from the impact of a minor eruption of Mt. Agung, with volcanic ash late last month forcing the temporary closure of Ngurah Rai International airport, stranding thousands of foreign visitors. However, the airport had started to operate normally by early December.

Recovering tourism in Bali will be the Tourism Ministry’s immediate priority next year, as Indonesia will still bank on Bali and tourist arrivals from China to help attract 17 million foreign visitors next year.

Arief realized that the efforts to restore tourism in Bali would still come down to the willingness of several countries, including China, to revoke their travel warning.

China has warned its citizens to be prepared for the possibility of being stranded on Bali and its aviation authority has suspended all flights connecting Bali with Chinese cities until the threat of an eruption clears.

“I think Chinese tourists will soon come back,” Arief said, adding that he was optimistic China would revoke its travel warning by Jan. 4 next year, although it remained unclear whether the advisory would be extended.

Chinese tourists have dominated the top spot of total foreign visitors over the last two years because of the increasing number of direct and charter flights between Chinese cities to cities like Jakarta and Denpasar.

Arief noted that there was a sign of promising recovery for tourism in Bali, although still below the normal average of 15,000 visitors per day as around 90 percent of the flights from Australia, Bali’s second biggest source of tourist arrivals, have returned to normal.

The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association has noted that the occupancy rate in Bali has gone down to around 20 percent because of the eruption.

Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies chairman Asnawi Bahar urged the government to focus next year on developing other tourist destinations such as Tana Toraja in South Sulawesi, Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara and Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara, as alternatives to Bali.

Tourism has been one of the priority sectors for Jokowi as it can quickly absorb employment and bring in foreign exchange revenue.