Officials prepare the exhibition stands at the venue for the G20 finance ministers and central governors meeting in Jakarta on Feb 16, 2022, scheduled to take place on Feb 17-18. (MAST IRHAM / POOL / AFP)

Indonesians are looking forward to the G20 Summit to be held in the country later this year, with the high-profile event expected to provide much-needed momentum for recovery of Bali’s tourism industry.

There are hopes the summit will yield some new initiatives to bolster the pandemic-hit regional and global economies as well as the host nation’s tourism sector, which has suffered a lot since 2020.  

Indonesia, which currently holds the G20 presidency, will host the 2022 G20 meeting on Nov 15-16 in Nusa Dua, 14 kilometers to the southeast of Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali. “Recover Together, Recover Stronger” is the theme chosen by the Indonesian G20 presidency.

 “Bali is dying. The G20 Summit (will) help return tourist confidence in Bali. Now we are fully prepared to receive visitors,” Putu Winastra, chairman of the Bali branch of the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies, said.

Indonesia, which currently holds the G20 presidency, will host the 2022 G20 meeting on Nov 15-16 in Nusa Dua, 14 kilometers to the southeast of Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali. “Recover Together, Recover Stronger” is the theme chosen by the Indonesian G20 presidency

Winastra said that G20 delegates and participants of the side events will not only attend meetings in Nusa Dua, which is home to Bali’s most prestigious hotels and conference centers, they are also likely to spend time to explore and experience different places in resort island. 

The people of Bali, including those in the countryside, always welcome world-class gatherings on the island as they believe such events will have a significant positive impact on their businesses, according to Winastra, who is a native of Bali. 

As of 2019, over 50 percent of the tourist island’s economy relied on tourism. 

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The G20 summit has been, and will be, preceded by ministerial meetings as well as working group and engagement group conferences in Bali and several other Indonesian provinces through the year.  

Meeting agendas include COVID-19 exit strategy for supporting recovery; mitigation of pandemic impacts in order to maintain growth; payment systems in digital era; sustainable finance, cross border payments; financial inclusion; enhancing funding and market access for micro, small and medium enterprises; and international taxation. 

Travelers are processed at the international arrivals hall at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Tuban near Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on Feb 16, 2022, after a Singapore Airlines flight arrived following a nearly two-year break due to COVID-19. (SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP)

Since early this year, a series of G20 meetings and side events have been held in Bali and in several other places. In all, there are 150 scheduled G20 meetings with participants totaling up to 5,800 people, according to Indonesia’s Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto. Meanwhile, there will be side events in 20 locations in Bali and other islands throughout the year. 

In May alone, 35 meetings took place in Bali and other places like Yogyakarta (central Java), Balikpapan (East Kalimantan), Banjarmasin (South Kalimantan) and Labuan Bajo (East Nusa Tenggara). Some participants attended the events online.

Putu Winastra, chairman of the Bali branch of the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies, said the 2nd Tourism Working Group conference will coincide with the expected rise in foreign tourist arrivals, mainly from Europe 

In mid-May, “The 1st Tourism Working Group 2022” meeting was held in Labuan Bajo, gateway to the famous Komodo National Park that is one of Indonesia’s hottest tourist destinations. Komodo Island, home to the world’s largest lizards, is an hour and 15 minutes flight from Bali. 

The Indonesian G20 presidency’s 2nd Tourism Working Group meeting will take place in Bali during July 28-29. 

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Winastra said the 2nd Tourism Working Group conference will coincide with the expected rise in foreign tourist arrivals, mainly from Europe, in Bali. In the past, the European visitor numbers peaked in July and August, Europe’s summer holiday season, said Winastra, who owns a travel agency and has been involved in the tourism industry for about 30 years. 

As the coronavirus pandemic has not yet fully disappeared in Indonesia, the tourists’ enthusiasm is quite surprising, Winastra said, attributing the revived visitor interest, to some extent, to the upcoming G20 Summit in Bali.

Also filled with excitement is Putu Edy, a tour operator who manages cars for G20 meeting participants in partnership with the state secretariat.

Edy said that he has already benefited a lot from the various G20-related meetings on the island. In addition, visitor groups unrelated to G20 meetings — from France and other European countries — had booked his service for July until November, he said. Some of those travelers will first visit Central Java before coming to Bali.  

The G20 gives us new hope. Our spirit has been uplifted to see hotels are now filled again. Villagers have begun to sell souvenirs and are also ready for traditional dance shows.

Putu Edy, tour operator who manages cars for G20 meeting participants in partnership with the state secretariat

“The G20 gives us new hope. Our spirit has been uplifted to see hotels are now filled again. Villagers have begun to sell souvenirs and are also ready for traditional dance shows,” Edy said. He said foreign travelers in contact with him were generally aware of the G20 Summit in Bali. 

On May 28, over 200 participants in the Seventh Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction that took place in Nusa Dua, visited Penglipuran village in a beautiful highland area. Like other community-based tourist destinations in Bali, Penglipuran — a 90-minute drive from Denpasar — has well-preserved layout and culture. 

As was the case with other similar villages, Penglipuran had been closed for two years due to the pandemic. But since last month, it has come back to life as more and more visitors have come to that place, a local tourism manager, Wayan Sumiarsa, said. Besides putting on performing arts shows, the village provides homestays for visitors. 

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Ida Bagus Raka Suardana, a professor at Denpasar’s National Education University, said special efforts have to be made to manage visitor flows to Bali in view of the still-raging pandemic. 

He noted that many hospitality facilities like hotels, inns, restaurants and arts display houses are in quite poor condition, and that they require renovation and upgrades.  

“Air conditioners are out of order and generators (have) broken down,” Suardana said. 

He suggested that the government provide help by issuing new policies that will enable tourism business players to get soft loans on favorable terms. 

Saying that he had raised this issue with the local government and the minister of tourism, Suardana added that more special efforts are needed to further develop community-based tourist destinations like Penglipuran village, in line with a special program encouraged by President Joko Widodo. 

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo gives a speech at the launch of the first public electric vehicle charging station, which will be used for electric vehicles transporting world leaders during the G20 conference in October this year, in the town of Nusa Dua on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on March 25, 2022. (SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP)

Penglipuran village had been closed for two years due to the pandemic. But since last month, it has come back to life as more and more visitors have come to that place, a local tourism manager, Wayan Sumiarsa, said. Besides putting on performing arts shows, the village provides homestays for visitors

“Tourists need not always stay at luxurious and large hotels. They can also go to villages and spend the night there,” Suardana said. 

Foreign tourist arrivals in Bali surged to about 14,600 in March this year, from 1,310 in the previous month. The March level was the highest since the coronavirus pandemic was first detected in Indonesia more than two years ago, according to Indonesia’s Central Bureau of Statistics.  

The sharp rise in arrivals followed the reopening, on Feb 4, of Bali to international flights, thanks to a significant drop in the country’s daily COVID-19 case numbers. Australians, Germans and British were at the top on the visitors’ list, unlike in the years before the pandemic when Chinese visitors ranked among the top three.   

READ MORE: Indonesia resumes domestic air travel, coronavirus cases jump

Suardana expects Chinese tourist numbers to Bali to return to normal in the coming years. Previously, most visitors from China came from the southern part of that country, and Suardana is hopeful that more and more visitors from north China will visit Bali in the future.

In May, the Indonesian government began to issue special visa on arrival for tourists from 29 countries, including China. Also, PCR test is no longer required to enter Indonesia if travelers have been fully vaccinated. Most travel restrictions have been lifted. 

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.