Before COVID-19, the vast majority of Balinese adults were directly employed in the tourism sector with 60 percent of the Balinese gross domestic product attributed to tourism alone. The collapse of overseas visitors, in particular the number one visitor cohort, Australians, has hit the Island of the gods very hard.

Over the course of the last two years, foreign tourist arrivals plunged from over 6 million to less than a million, with nearly 105,000 Balinese losing their jobs in August 2021 alone. (Six in 10 Indonesians work in the informal sectors, so this figure is likely to be much higher than reported.) As a result, the island’s economy contracted by a staggering 9.3 percent.

As an essential public health measure, the island was largely closed to overseas visitors, instead relying on domestic tourism to keep the economic wheels turning. (This strategy resulted in a “life-saving” turnaround of 2.8 percent for the second quarter of this year.)

Often referred to as “the Ibu of Ubud” and “the mother of modern-day tourism in Bali”, Ibu (Mrs) Murni was one of the very first Balinese to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. (President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has credited Bali’s high vaccination rate now 76 percent of the population for the first dose and 65 percent for the second dose—for the decision to reopen.)

Ibu Murni said, “I wanted to be a good example and show my staff and my community that the vaccination was safe. And, of course, we all want to welcome back visitors. In Balinese culture we have a strong sense of ‘we’ and not just ‘me.’ We understand responsibilities and obligations very well. And now we are being rewarded for working together and trusting the experts and the science as we move towards opening up our beautiful island again.”

To survive, Murni’s Warung resized its menu and played to its strengths, the way it began in 1974, serving mainly popular local dishes at local prices. Deliveries became more frequent than they used to be. In the process, her restaurant won Restaurant Guru’s Award for the Best Food Delivery in Ubud! (Her restaurant had earlier won the prestigious Gourmand Award in 2019—just before COVID-19 hit —and her Tamarind Spa at Murni’s Houses was the winner of the 2021/22 Contemporary Spa of the Year award—Indonesia Prestige Awards.)

Last week, the Tourism and Creative Economy Minister, Sandiaga Uno, sent a clear message to the Australian government that Indonesia has taken the necessary steps to welcome back tourists to Bali. On Friday, the Australian prime minister responded.

At an Oct. 22 press conference with the QANTAS boss Alan Joyce (reported in the national newspaper, The Australian), Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the words Ibu Murni and her nearly four million fellow Balinese have been waiting to hear. “I'll be seeing President Widodo this weekend (at the COP26 United Nation’s sponsored Glasgow Climate Summit), and after at the G20. This [re-opening of Bali to Australian tourists] has been a regular matter that’s come up in our discussions over the course of the pandemic about when we can have travel to Indonesia going again.”

Confirmed in an ABC (the national broadcaster) news bulletin, Joyce reinforced the prime minister’s comments that discussions were underway with the Indonesian government about welcoming fully vaccinated Australians back to Bali with reduced or no quarantine requirements.

On hearing the news, Ibu Murni’s immediate comment was, “This is wonderful. It has really lifted our spirits. Not only does our President understand how difficult life has been in Bali during the pandemic, but now our neighbor Australia understands too and both leaders will meet and work together. This has made us all so happy and optimistic for the future.”

When Australians do return, however, there is a discussion about what positive changes can be made to improve the visitor experience. As Ibu Murni says, “Bapak Luhut (Luhut Panjaitan, the coordinating maritime affairs and investment minister) says, that in the post-pandemic future, there should be a greater emphasis on low ecological impact/high value tourism. I know my friends who have suffered during the pandemic too—like my neighbors at Casa Luna, the extraordinary Blanco Museum across the river from my Warung, and Yanie and Nigel Mason’s multi-award-winning Elephant Safari Park and rescue facility in Taro would agree.”

The “Ibu of Ubud” has clearly been inspired by the prospect of the Indonesian president and the Australian prime minister meeting on the sidelines in Glasgow: to help Bali. She said, “Because Australians are loved and appreciated by the Balinese, and because generations of Australians have fallen in love with Bali, these ‘man-to-man’ discussions can only bring our two neighboring peoples closer together.”

But more than this, Bali is the world’s most recognized tourism brand. And when Bali is doing well—the world is doing well too.

 ***

The writer is the co-author of the book, So Many Delicious Years: Murni's Warung, Ubud, Bali