Tourists back in Bali in force, except for the Chinese, and room prices rise as hotels struggle to find staff

An Airbnb report shows that Kuta, a resort area in Bali, is the most popular travel search on its site, with four others in Southeast Asia in the top 10

Hotels on the holiday island are booked out at Christmas and New Year, prices are rising and new staff hard to find – and Chinese tourists haven’t returned yet

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People hang out at Seminyak Beach, Bali, in the evening. Tourism on the Indonesian island is picking up again as the Covid-19 pandemic eases. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 1:15pm, 3 Dec 2022

Tourism in Bali has roared back to life, with the Indonesian island topping Airbnb’s list of the world’s most popular holiday destinations and many hotels there already fully booked for the end-of-year holiday period.

Released in November, Airbnb’s Winter Release Highlights shows that Kuta, a beachside district 10 minutes’ drive from Bali’s international airport, which resembled a ghost town during the pandemic, was the No 1 trending destination for searches worldwide on Airbnb between July and October this year.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was the second most searched destination, followed by Itapema, a city in Brazil’s south. Of the 10 most searched destinations, five are in Southeast Asia, two are in Australia and only one – Malaga, in Spain – is in the northern hemisphere, where it is winter.

Made, an Airbnb host who manages a three-bedroom villa in Cemagi, a semirural beachside district nearly 20km northwest of Bali’s airport, has been overwhelmed by inquiries on Airbnb.

Mamaka by Ovolo, a four-star hotel on Kuta beach where 98 per cent of rooms are already booked for the holiday period. Photo: Ovolo

“Normally this villa costs two million rupiah (US$127) per night. But with so many people asking about it, we increased it to three million and then increased it again to five million per night just to see how high we could go. It was booked a few days later by a family from Jakarta,” says Made, adding: “I should have made the price even higher.”