No sign of Bali volcano, but it has already destroyed this

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Though it has yet to yield a major eruption, Mount Agung still has tens of thousands displaced and is scaring away visitors who fear getting stuck by flight cancellations after their end-of-the-year celebrations

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Passengers wait in line at a ticketing counter at Ngurah Rai International Airport near Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. Weeks ago tourists were stranded by disruptions from the Bali volcano. Photo: Reuters

Muhammad Cohen

Published: 4:57pm, 26 Dec 2017Updated: 5:05pm, 26 Dec 2017

Bali’s tourism industry is struggling to have a merry Christmas as Mount Agung gurgles over the Indonesian holiday island. Four months of heightened seismic activity has yet to produce a major eruption, but has still managed to devastate a crucial tourism season.

Airport closures in late November prevented international travellers from going home for a few days, while tens of thousands of villagers living near the volcano have been unable to go home for months. They’re the most directly impacted of Bali’s 4.2 million residents, but volcano fallout and responses have spread across the island and beyond.

Tourism is Bali’s lifeblood; an estimated 70 per cent of the economy is linked to its 5 million international arrivals and 10 million domestic visitors. Alit Wiraputra, Bali chapter chairman of Kadin, Indonesia’s national chamber of commerce, estimates tourism related revenue losses at US$250 million so far since the volcano alert was issued in September. At government urging, banks have given Bali businesses a six-month hiatus from loan repayments.

Indonesia President Joko Widodo, centre, sits with his ministers while visiting a cafe in Kuta Beach in Bali. Photo: Reuters

On the Friday before Christmas, Indonesia President Joko Widodo took his Cabinet meeting to Bali, walked barefoot on famed Kuta Beach and declared Bali safe. The presidential gestures, while welcome, missed the point. The 3,031-metre-high Mount Agung is some 50km north-east of main tourist zones of south Bali – what scares travellers isn’t lava but another airport closure.

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Before and during the November 27-29 shutdown of Ngurah Rai International Airport, tourism authorities pledged free overnight accommodation, free transport to the airport in Surabaya on neighbouring Java and a waiver of penalties for visa overstays for stranded tourists. Those promises were only sporadically honoured, according to sources assisting travellers. In the event of another shutdown, Bali Governor Mangku Pastika, the police chief who cracked the 2002 terror bombings behind Bali’s last comparable tourism meltdown, says he’ll move his office to the airport to ensure promises are kept.