ollowing the recent eruptions at Mount Agung, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia president director Pahala N. Mansury said Bali had seen a 15 percent decrease in the number of foreign tourists visiting the island.
As reported by tempo.co, the number of domestic tourists to Bali had also decreased, especially after the alert level at Mt. Agung was raised to its highest level.
Pahala said he expects countries that had issued travel warnings would now reassure their citizens it was safe to visit Bali. He also called on the government to reassure foreign governments that it was safe for their citizens to travel, especially China, one of Indonesia's biggest source of tourists.
Read also: Bali offers up to 50 percent discounts to tourists: Minister
During the Christmas and New Year holidays, it has been reported that the national flag carrier will adjust its fares for flights to Denpasar, Bali, in a bid to boost tourist visits.
Separately, Ngurah Rai International Airport general manager Yanus Suprayogi said up to 477 additional flights had been proposed by Garuda to accommodate for the high demand during the year-end holidays. "During year-end, Bali has always been the most popular destination for domestic and foreign travelers," said Yanus.
He said the addition of hundreds of flights, or around 80,000 seats, had been proposed by five national airlines, namely Citilink, Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air, Nam Air and Sriwijaya Air, with the most popular routes including Surabaya, Jakarta, Makassar, Labuan Bajo, Waingapu, Lombok and Maumere. (kes)
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