HOTELIERS in Bali anxiously await their moment in the sun whilst closely following the progress of their ASEAN counterparts in Thailand, who are preparing to launch the Phuket Sandbox programme on July 1.
Although no official reopening date has been confirmed for Bali there’s plenty of speculation that it could resume proceedings by the end of July, with the Antara news agency reporting over the weekend that “Bali could reopen as early as next month”.
On June 15, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno gave this statement to local media: “We continue to make preparations for the recovery of tourism in Bali. Although the Covid-19 situation is currently well under control, we continue to monitor things carefully in response to the case spikes which occurred in several areas recently.
“The president is currently assessing, in detail, the progress in vaccinations, the implementation of health protocols and the general handling of Covid-19,” the minister added, “a positive outcome in these assessments will be a huge step forward for Bali’s reopening plans but, ultimately, the final decision will depend on the travel corridor arrangements being prepared by the foreign affairs minister.”
Minister Uno praised Bali for its hugely successful vaccination programme, which has seen a vaccine distribution of almost 50% achieved on the island so far, making Bali one of the top provincial performers in Indonesia with regards to gearing up testing and enacting preventative measures to combat the pandemic. Minister Uno also declared that a further six million vaccine doses will be administered between now and the end of the July.
Chairman of the Bali Hotels Association (BHA), Jean Heliere, remarked that the organisation has been liaising closely with Phuket Hotels Association to see which effective strategies can be implemented moving forward. “We have lots to learn from them as they are in a more advanced stage of reopening but, with time, we will be able to share our experiences too, and learn from each other.
“Whilst the rate of vaccination is generally low across Indonesia, the statistics are not representative of Bali as the programme has been ramped up significantly here,” explained Heliere, who also shared that the target was to vaccinate three million people, which includes 70% of the local population. As of last week, the progress stood at 47%.
“Furthermore, the programme has specifically targeted approximately 90,000 hospitality employees who have now received at least one dose of the vaccine, allowing the establishment of green zones for tourism in Ubud, Nusa Dua and Sanur.
“This was all made possible by 25 BHA represented hotels who stepped in to help with the drive by volunteering their premises as vaccination sites. To add to this, 75% of the BHA affiliated hotels are already compliant with the country’s health certification and we expect that by end of July, we will be 90% compliant. Hotels are basically ready! We are now just eagerly awaiting the green light to open for international visitors.”
Heliere is also the general manager of Hotel Indigo Bali Seminyak Beach, who reopened on May 1 after a 10-month closure. “It was an emotional time for us to welcome guests again but this is what we do and it feels great to be back, doing what we were trained for. It wasn’t easy after 10 months but we invested our resources well in that time, especially in our staff.”
Currently, the hotel is mostly catering for domestic guests, mainly from Jakarta, Surabaya and Java, and has a respectable occupancy during these times, of between 15% and-20%. Other than for leisure, the hotel is benefiting from those in the domestic workforce who are able to use the island remotely as a work base, after encouragement from the Indonesian government to ‘work from Bali’.
“We recognise the challenges given that Seminyak is primarily a Chinese and Australian destination, and those two markets don’t appear to be opening any time soon. However, prior to the pandemic, we were extremely popular with the locals and had a solid domestic client base so catering for these guests exclusively has taken minimal readjustment,” said Heliere, who arrived in Bali two-and-a-half years ago.
“We are nowhere near where we were in 2019 but the situation is slowly improving – it probably won’t be back to what it used to be until next year but, compared to the beginning of the year, we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel – there is a bit of life coming back in to the area and businesses are starting to reopen.”
Over at the integrated resort of Nusa Dua though, the picture is slightly differently, where hotels in the precinct are more inbound reliant and cater more to the MICE business which has virtually disappeared.
Masaya Hasabe, general manager of Hotel Nikko Bali Benoa Beach, arrived in Bali from Bangkok in March 2020, right before the pandemic effectively shut down travel.
Hasabe said the property never officially closed through the pandemic. “We were extremely lucky to have an owner who was financially supportive throughout these challenging times. We managed to keep one wing open, and closed most dining outlets, except two.”
To maximise revenue streams, the hotel expanded its services to food delivery and catering, and launched “Nikko Home Indulgence”, offering massages, haircuts, a private chef, romantic dinners, house cleaning and other hotel services to residents. It also repurposed its beachfront venues into co-working space to accommodate digital nomads.
“We also did a lot of online marketing,” said Hasabe, adding, “our staff picked up good skills that we can use in future.”
He also reports seeing “much stronger pick-up in demand” since May with the anticipation of reopening by end of July. Pre-Covid, he said domestic was about 10-15% of its business and China and Australia accounted for 60%.
With those two overseas markets challenged, he said there is a need to diversify and the hotel would target guests from other South-east Asian countries as well as Japan and Taiwan for future businesses.
Hasabe estimates that it would take two years for full recovery. “It’s not only about the island reopening, but it’s also dependent on flights and airlines. Airlines have also struggled through this and whether they have the planes to put on capacity fast enough is another thing.”
However, what’s been positive is the spirit of solidarity that has come forth from the hoteliers, agreed both Heliere and Hasabe. “Each hotel supported its own staff, its own community, and we collaborated on island-wide programmes such as blood donations and donating goods to the local community. It was a huge show of solidarity,” said Heliere.
For Hasabe, the biggest lesson from Covid is how particularly relevant the Japanese “omotenashi” culture is during this time. “Ensuring guest and staff’s safety and well being are the top priority in our industry – omotenashi culture delivers both.”
For Heliere, “The biggest lesson we have learned is that nothing is guaranteed. A lot has changed and it has changed rapidly; you have to adapt quickly but with so much uncertainty affecting everyone to vastly different extents, you also have to exercise empathy; my top priority is making sure that no employee goes hungry.”
Note: Jean Heliere will be speaking at the WiT Travel Roadshow, Episode 4, on June 24, 6PM-8.30PM SG time (GMT+8)
• Featured image credit: Hotel Indigo Seminyak Beach
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