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Strategies and Policies for The Acceleration of Bali Tourism Recovery 

I Putu Astawa* 
 

Regional Development Planning Agency of Bali Province, Bali, Indonesia 

 
*Corresponding Author: putuastawa19@yahoo.co.id 

 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24922/eot.v9i1.84154 
 
 

Article Info 

Submitted: 

January 14th 2021  

Accepted: 

March 10th 2022 

 Published: 

March 31th 2022 

Abstract 

Bali tourism has been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There-

fore, efforts to revive tourism and restore the economy in Bali are needed. 

The main objectives of this study are (1) to analyze the efforts to build 

the trust of the tourists to visit Bali, (2) to analyze the policies to encour-

age tourists to come to Bali. This study utilized a qualitative approach. 

The study was conducted in Bali, and data was collected through inter-

view, observation, and documentation techniques. The key informants in 

this study were the Heads of the following institutions: Bali Provincial 

Tourism Office, Statistics of Bali Province, Bali Provincial Health Office, 

and Bank Indonesia. The result of this study revealed that building trust 

from the tourists to visit Bali can be done by suppressing and reducing 

the spread of COVID-19, repetition of public awareness socialization 

campaigns about health protocols implementation, providing healthcare 

facilities, medical personnel, and paramedics, tight travel control at Bali’s 

entry and exit points, vaccination of tourism workers and the community, 

and implementation of green zones. Furthermore, the strategies to encour-

age tourists to come to Bali are free covid corridor, meeting incentive 

conference exhibition, work from Bali, influencer collaboration through 

the “We Love Bali” program, and digitalization of inclusive tourism. This 

study is essential to be conducted to assist in restoring tourism and eco-

nomic conditions in Bali. 

Keywords: tourism; economy; trust; travel; tourists. 

 

 

INTRODUCTION 

 

Background 

COVID-19 pandemic has caused a 

massive downturn that the tourism industry 

has seen in its history. All kinds of tourism 

activities have been stopped; flights were 

grounded, hotels were closed, international 

travels were restricted and even prohibited. 

In the past, the global tourism industry ex-

perienced a downturn after the 9/11 terror 

attack. A year later, Bali was hit by a simi-

lar disaster, which resulted in the collapse 

of the island’s economy. Compared to the 

impact of that terrorism, the effect of the 

COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism in-

dustry is much more severe. The ongoing 

pandemic has kept people wondering when 

it will end and ultimately created shared 

challenges for all tourism stakeholders to 

address. 

On March 23, 2020, three days after 

warnings and appeals for COVID-19 cases 

were publicly announced by the national 

government, the Provincial Government of 

Bali immediately took various anticipatory 

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steps to minimize the spread of the virus. 

The Bali government, in an integrated 

manner through the Circular Letter of the 

Governor of Bali Number 

45/SatgasCovid19/III/2020, appealed for 

physical distancing, implementation of 

WFH (work from home), closures of the 

schools, shopping centers, and tourist at-

tractions, as well as establishing mutual co-

operation task forces at the traditional vil-

lage level. The spread of COVID-19 in 

Bali was increasing day by day. The major-

ity of the cases happened at three main 

clusters, namely (1) traditional and reli-

gious ceremony cluster, (2) family cluster, 

and (3) office cluster. 

This situation became a major con-

cern for policymakers in formulating and 

implementing strategic preventive policy 

measures. The government then enacted 

community activity restrictions following 

the Instruction of the Minister of Home Af-

fairs Number 02 of 2021, Regulation of the 

Governor of Bali Number 46 of 2020, Cir-

cular Letter of the Governor of Bali Num-

ber 3355 of 2020, and Circular Letter of the 

Governor of Bali Number 01 of 2021. By 

these efforts, the trend of COVID-19 trans-

mission in Bali decreased since early De-

cember 2020. Even though the spread de-

creased by the end of 2020, the transmis-

sion rate increased again in 2021, with the 

number of cases reaching an average of 

330 by the end of January 2021. 

The surge in covid-19 cases in Bali 

caused a decrease in the number of foreign 

tourists visiting Bali. Apart from the strin-

gent regulations in each country concern-

ing international travel, the number of 

COVID-19 cases in Indonesia also became 

a concern for international tourists. The 

number of foreign visitors to Bali declined 

drastically. The positive growth recorded 

during the past six years experienced a 

massive change in 2020. This can be seen 

in Graph 1.1 about the number of foreign 

tourists visiting Bali from 2015 to 2020. 

Based on a year-on-year comparison using 

the data of 2019 and 2020, the cumulative 

percentage of international visitors coming 

to Bali decreased by -83.26% (Statistics of 

Bali Province, 2020). 

Bali contributes 55.26% of national 

foreign exchange from the tourism sector, 

which means a decline in the number of 

foreign visitors in 2020 had the potential to 

cause a loss on tourism-generated national 

revenue. According to the estimated in-

bound path of foreign tourists to Bali in 

2020, which was released by Bank Indone-

sia, the potential loss of foreign exchange 

was expected to reach IDR 108 trillion. 

This estimate was stated in a detailed cal-

culation that the potential loss of foreign 

tourists reached 5,227,322 people, with the 

average expenditure per tourist being USD 

1,409,90. Therefore, with the United States 

dollar exchange rate against the Indonesian 

rupiah of IDR 14,692, the potential loss of 

foreign exchange due to COVID-19 is IDR 

108,280,280,657,027 or equivalent to USD 

7.4 billion (Bank Indonesia, 2021). 

The problem then is how to design 

the right policies to build the trust of the 

tourists with the current restrictions and 

limitations caused by the pandemic. As a 

concrete step to address this problem, it is 

necessary to prepare appropriate analysis 

and strategies to accelerate tourism recov-

ery on a micro and macro scale. Therefore, 

the objectives of this study are 1) to ana-

lyze the efforts made to build the trust of 

the tourists visiting Bali and 2) to analyze 

the policies made to encourage tourists to 

come to Bali. 
 

LITERATUR REVIEW 

 

Faulkner (2001) noted an increasing 

number of disasters and crises affecting the 

tourism industry, from natural to human-

induced events. When a disaster occurs, the 

public seeks crisis management infor-

mation to determine whether the disaster 

will affect them and what they should do 

about it (Reynolds & Seeger, 2005). 

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Similarly, based on the Regulation of the 

Minister of Tourism of the Republic of In-

donesia Number 10 of 2019 concerning 

Tourism Crisis Management, it is stated 

that: “In tourism crisis management, the 

emergency response taken is by during dis-

asters is to execute communication strat-

egy to disseminate information.” 

One theory that can be used as a ref-

erence in disseminating information is the 

theory of human information behavior, 

also known as information behavior. Wil-

son (2000) states that this theory can be de-

fined as the totality of human behavior in 

relation to sources and channels of infor-

mation, including both active and passive 

information seeking, and information use. 

However, it should be noted that the pro-

cess of information seeking of each indi-

vidual is different, so segmentation is 

needed in the information delivery process. 

As stated by Daellenbach, Parkinson & 

Krisjanous (2018), in the context of disas-

ters, segmentation has the potential to iden-

tify the groups in the population that may 

be more vulnerable and have a better un-

derstanding of what can motivate them to 

improve preparedness. Targeted initiatives 

are those that precisely match the audience 

profile and increase the opportunities of 

reaching that audience, grabbing their at-

tention, and reaching an agreement. Simi-

larly, Dietrich, Rundle-Thiele, & Kubacki 

(2016) state that identifying the unique 

characteristics of the market segment al-

lows for better understanding, enabling a 

greater ability to build and deliver targeted 

and effective initiatives for each segment. 

Tsai et al. (2016) suggest that alt-

hough the local government may have their 

community disaster prevention plans, and 

the government seeks to meet the public 

demands for safe conditions, the commu-

nity must also help each other and face the 

disaster together. In addition, by jointly im-

proving the economic and social resilience, 

the government and the community will be 

able to establish effective economic and 

social resilient mechanisms at a regional 

scale to increase the self-reliance capacity 

in the event of a disaster. 

The community’s ability to face, 

adapt to, and recover from pressures 

caused by a disaster is known as resilience 

(Pelling, 2003). For tourists, the availabil-

ity and accessibility of information are the 

main factors behind the perception of indi-

vidual and social group risk (Rindrasih, 

2018). Correct information about disaster 

will help them build awareness and prepar-

edness for it. Although it sounds negative, 

early information about the disaster will 

minimize the risks that can occur. 

Thus, it can be illustrated that for 

managing disasters such as the current 

COVID-19 pandemic, conveying accurate 

information based on the community seg-

ments will be an effective step to build the 

economic and social resilience of the com-

munity. When this economic and social re-

silience can be firmly and evenly estab-

lished, the community will comply and 

participate in implementing health proto-

cols consciously and with discipline. Such 

discipline and compliance to the protocols 

will be better when they come from the 

community’s awareness and understanding 

of the situation, which can be obtained 

through straightforward, firm, and well-

targeted information rather than coercion. 

This awareness will ultimately lead to 

comprehensive community resilience to 

suppress the spread of covid-19 cases, 

which becomes the main requirement for 

the recovery of the tourism economy in 

Bali (Ardani and Harianto, 2021). 

 

RESEARCH METHODS 

 

This study was conducted with a 

qualitative approach. This research was 

conducted in the province of Bali in the 

period May - December 2021. Data were 

collected through three techniques, namely 

(1) interviews, (2) observations, and (3) 

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documentation. The key informants of this 

study are the Heads of Bali Provincial 

Tourism Office, Statistics of Bali Province, 

Bali Provincial Health Office, and Bank 

Indonesia. This study focused on two data 

collection techniques utilized as materials 

for analyzing the phenomenon that occurs. 

The first technique used is passive partici-

pant observation to observe the phenome-

non without being directly involved in the 

related activity. The second technique used 

is documentation by collecting data 

through records of the events that already 

happened. Documents can be in the form 

of writing, pictures, or monumental works 

of an individual. The results of the study 

are believed to be more credible if they are 

supported by existing academic papers. 

The techniques for data collection in 

this qualitative method are used with the 

following considerations: (1) limitation to 

move around caused by COVID-19 pan-

demic, (2) passive participant observation 

and documentation are considered capable 

and sufficient to provide an overview of 

the historical situations that have occurred 

during COVID-19 pandemic to date. 

Through this method, policy strategies are 

systematically formulated to accelerate 

Bali’s economic recovery through tourism 

activation. 

 

RESULT AND DISCUSSION 

 

Building the trust of the tourists visiting 

Bali 

The parameter of the tourist confi-

dence to revisit the destination and the 

readiness to reopen the tourism is the de-

crease in COVID-19 cases. One aspect that 

can be used to see tourist confidence is the 

trending popularity of searching the word 

“Bali” through search engines. This trend 

can be measured through Google Trend. 

From search history at domestic scale, 

there has been a decline in search activity 

for the keyword “Bali” on search engines 

from March 2020. Based on the keyword 

data stored in Google big data or Google 

suggestion, there are three most popular 

queries netizens are paying attention to 

when searching about “Bali”, which are 

“Covid Bali”, “Corona Bali”, and “Covid 

19 Bali” (Yuniarso, et al 2021). 

Based on the above data, it can be 

observed that the trust of domestic and in-

ternational tourists is focused on the que-

ries about the condition of Bali related to 

COVID-19. Thus, comprehensive, inte-

grated, and thorough measures are needed 

to stop the COVID-19 spread. These 

measures must also be accompanied by ef-

forts to build social and economic resili-

ence. If the community does not have so-

cial and economic resilience, the COVID-

19 outbreak will take longer to stop. 

Creating community resilience, es-

pecially amongst the tourism workers, 

needs to be done through funding assis-

tance and access to information on oppor-

tunities to distribute the products they pro-

duce. It should be realized that the tourism 

workers who lost their jobs will feel inse-

cure and uncomfortable about their lives. 

In addition to direct cash assistance 

through village funds, special funding as-

sistance should also be given to them. This 

takes into account that the sector of accom-

modation and food & beverage is the lead-

ing sector in the GRDP of Bali Province. 

Therefore, it is natural that when this sector 

slumps, tourism workers are the first ones 

to receive funding aid. 

Providing direct funding assistance 

or opening access to funding will also drive 

incentives for consumption, which eventu-

ally will keep the economy running. How-

ever, it should be noted that (1) data collec-

tion on the affected tourism workers must 

be conducted accurately and adequately. 

Funding aid can be done by considering 

several criteria, such as the place of work, 

years of service, and the skills possessed. 

Furthermore, another thing to consider 

later is (2) the ease and consistency of the 

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funding assistance to stimulate the distri-

bution of business opportunities in the 

community that will contribute to their sur-

vival. Interest rate reductions and proce-

dures to apply for financial aid can also be 

collaborated with various banks and finan-

cial institutions, both at the national and re-

gional levels. A concrete realization of this 

initiative is the credit application system 

for the Balinese people through 

kurbali.com, which makes it easier for the 

people to access funding. The socialization 

about access to funding information can 

also be done through the companies where 

the tourism workers were previously em-

ployed. These companies, such as hotels, 

restaurants, travel agencies, and others, 

have a database of their employees that can 

be used to assist in disseminating the infor-

mation quickly. For daily workers, such in-

formation can be shared through associa-

tion organizations that become the infor-

mation gateway. 

In addition to the funding assistance, 

it is also necessary to open access for tour-

ism workers who have lost their income to 

shift to other industries in order to be inde-

pendent and able to support their lives. For 

instance, those who have skills in cooking, 

farming, or producing goods and services 

can be given access to information on 

where they can sell or distribute their prod-

ucts, what media they can use to promote 

their products and other things that will 

help them generate income. A concrete 

step that can be taken is by creating a ded-

icated application that serves as an online 

marketplace for the tourism worker to sell 

their products and encourage the local 

community to support and prioritize shop-

ping through this online application. 

The vaccination process is also the 

key to accelerating the decline of COVID-

19 spread. Priority and equal distribution 

of vaccines to the community will surely 

assist in reducing the number of COVID-

19 cases. The first and foremost step to re-

cover tourism in Bali is to suppress or 

eradicate the spread of COVID-19 on the 

island. This should start by providing a 

sense of security for the community. Obli-

gations and demands for discipline to the 

community must also be accompanied by 

fulfilling their right to have a sense of se-

curity. Therefore, guaranteeing the com-

munity’s sense of security, particularly 

concerning the individual economic condi-

tions, will drive collective efforts to pre-

vent the further spread of COVID-19. The 

accelerated decline of COVID-19 cases 

will gradually build the tourists’ confi-

dence to consider plans for return visits. 

 

Consistency to build TRUST: Through 

repetition of public awareness socializa-

tion campaigns on the implementation 

of health protocols 

The social and economic resilience 

of the community must be carried out with 

commitment and consistency. Suppose the 

economic resilience can be realized 

through funding assistance and access to 

information, which are parts of the com-

munity’s rights to attain a sense of security 

and comfort in living through the pan-

demic. In that case, the next step is to re-

quest the community to fulfill their obliga-

tions to comply and implement health pro-

tocols with discipline. 

In general, there are several things 

that can be done to build tourist confidence 

about the health protocols which are imple-

mented in Bali, including (1) implementing 

and campaigning standardized health pro-

tocols in a disciplined manner, (2) provid-

ing healthcare facilities, medical person-

nel, and paramedics, (3) strict supervision 

on the implementation of health protocols 

by a dedicated team and task force, (4) tight 

travel control at the entry and exit points in 

Bali, (5) vaccination of tourism workers 

and the community, and (6) implementa-

tion of green zones on select tourist desti-

nations. These six items will be described 

in detail by explaining the measures taken 

to build trust. 

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Implementing and campaigning stand-

ardized health protocols 

It should be realized that the ongo-

ing pandemic has caused public boredom 

mainly due to the stringent restrictions in 

place. To minimize boredom, especially in 

implementing health protocols, the infor-

mation and the methods of socialization 

campaign must be conducted by classify-

ing the community segments based on their 

geography, demographics, behavior, and 

psychographics. Through this grouping, it 

will be possible to choose the suitable me-

dia and method to re-socialize the health 

protocols that the public must comply with 

and implement. 

Social communication efforts in the 

form of campaign repetitions on health 

protocols, which are executed appropri-

ately, effectively, and efficiently, and with 

harmonious language, content, and con-

text, can be customized based on each 

community segment. In addition, it is also 

essential to convey that the primary key to 

economic recovery for the Balinese people 

is through tourism recovery. One require-

ment for tourism recovery is the urgency to 

reduce the spread of COVID-19 as soon as 

possible. The media used to communicate 

this message should also be selected based 

on the consumer segments. Integrating dig-

ital and traditional communications can be 

done so that the message can reach a mass 

audience while at the same time also opti-

mizing it to be received personally by each 

individual in the community. 

 

Providing healthcare facilities, medical 

personnel, and paramedics 

The campaign about health protocol 

implementation needs to be supported both 

by the readiness of infrastructure and hu-

man resources, which are the availability 

of a good quantity of qualified medical per-

sonnel and paramedics. Building the trust 

of the tourists can be supported with infor-

mation on the distribution of healthcare 

locations for the prevention and control of 

COVID-19, particularly around tourist 

destinations. These destinations can refer 

to the green zones area, which becomes the 

tourism priority. In the future, other desti-

nations will be able to participate in prepar-

ing the facilities and human resources that 

will support the reopening of Bali to wel-

come the tourists again. 

 

Supervision on health protocol imple-

mentation (CHSE and 7M) 

The implementation of health proto-

cols in the tourism activity must go both 

ways, from the tourism service providers 

and the tourists themselves. The imple-

mentation of CHSE (Clean, Health, Safety, 

and Environment Sustainability) certifica-

tion is necessary for building the trust of 

the tourists. The actors in the tourism in-

dustry must fully understand and imple-

ment the health protocols based on CHSE 

standards. Furthermore, the CHSE certifi-

cation will also assist them in providing a 

sense of comfort and security for the tour-

ists (Yuniati, 2021). 

On the other hand, the community 

also needs to support the implementation 

of health protocols in an orderly and disci-

plined manner. This can be done by follow-

ing 7M which are wearing mask (memakai 

masker), washing hands (mencuci tangan), 

keeping a safe distance (menjaga jarak), 

limiting mobility (membatasi mobilitas), 

increasing immunity (meningkatkan 

imun), staying away from crowds (men-

jauhi kerumunan), and obeying the regula-

tions (menaati aturan). In addition, a pol-

icy to do a judicial operation by involving 

civil service police, department of trans-

portation, army, police, and law enforce-

ment team is also needed, especially when 

considering that there are still some clus-

ters in the community that do not comply 

with health protocols. “Discipline” is a 

keyword to reduce and suppress the num-

ber of COVID-19 spread to build the trust 

of the tourists. 

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Tight travel control at the entry and exit 

points in Bali 

The previous social campaign must 

also be followed by a collaborative imple-

mentation of the programs by all actors in 

the tourism industry. The readiness of the 

tourist screening system and procedure at 

every tourist entry and exit point is essen-

tial to show Bali’s consistent effort to build 

the trust of domestic and international tour-

ists. For example, the procedure and simu-

lation of Bali Tourism Free Covid Corridor 

(BTFCC) and the SOP of health protocols 

for passengers, employees, and tenants, as 

well as healthcare facilities at the Ngurah 

Rai International Airport, can be some key 

actions to successfully build the tourist 

trust, especially in the eyes of the interna-

tional community. 

 

Vaccination of the tourism workers and 

the community 

The vaccination program has been 

carried out since the beginning of 2021 and 

is still ongoing. It is expected that vaccina-

tion can be done to all Indonesian people, 

with a priority given to those residing in 

Bali. According to Rhismawati (2021), the 

Governor of Bali expected the island to 

have achieved herd immunity by Decem-

ber 2021. To achieve this target, the vac-

cination program was divided into three 

stages targeting three different groups, 

which are (1) the first vaccination stage 

was for health workers, (2) the second vac-

cination stage was for the senior citizen, 

teachers, army, police, civil servants, hotel 

employees, private employees, traditional 

market sellers, and groups who often deal 

with the public, and (3) the third vaccina-

tion stage was for the people who do not 

have frequent contact with the public, such 

as housewives and others. 

Suparta (2021) states that by May 

2021, Bali received 1.3 million doses of 

vaccine and later was provided with an ad-

ditional 673,180 vaccine doses. In total, 

Bali received 1,973,180 COVID-19 vac-

cines of AstraZeneca and Sinovac types. 

The Balinese people who participated in 

the vaccination program reached 1,268,115 

people. From this number, 895,394 people 

already received their first dose of the vac-

cine, and 372,721 people already received 

their second dose. Based on the Governor 

of Bali’s target to obtain an additional 

500,000 doses of vaccine from the third 

week of May to June and July 2021, it was 

projected that 3 million Balinese people 

could participate in the vaccination to 

achieve herd immunity. 

The apparent challenge during the 

vaccination program was on educating the 

public about the importance of implement-

ing comprehensive vaccination for every-

one in Bali. Education should be delivered 

with the right means of communication and 

through the right media based on the target 

community. A detailed explanation of vac-

cine knowledge, vaccination process, the 

necessary requirements, and other techni-

calities need to be properly conveyed. Vac-

cination, although it does not make a per-

son immune to COVID-19, it is medically 

believed to reduce the risk of exposure to 

COVID-19 by 65-75%. This vaccination 

will contribute to building the trust and 

confidence of the tourists as it will reduce 

the chances of contracting COVID-19. 

 

Implementation of green zones 

Three out of four destinations have 

been designated as green zones in Bali. 

They are Ubud, Sanur, and Nusa Dua. Ac-

cording to Wiratmini (2021), Nusa Penida 

was also nominated to be one of the green 

zones; however, only three destinations 

were chosen in the end. The appointment 

of green zones was based on several tech-

nical requirements that each destination 

had to meet, such as having adequate 

healthcare facilities, accessible laborato-

ries, and sufficient medical personnel. 

 

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The implementation of green zones 

is expected to serve as an example in the 

campaign to build the international com-

munity’s trust that Bali is still a worthy and 

safe destination to visit. The implementa-

tion of green zones must be properly 

guarded so that they will become the pilots 

for the implementation of quality tourism 

through wellness-based tourism activities 

that prioritize the safety, health, and happi-

ness of the tourists visiting the three desti-

nations. These three green zones must be-

come role models for other destinations so 

that the parameters of the implementation 

of CHSE can be measured and directed 

properly. 

The six steps above in building the 

trust are in line with the big picture of the 

strategies from the Ministry of National 

Development Planning (2021), which di-

vides three main steps to revitalize the Ba-

linese economy, namely: (1) restoring the 

industry and people’s income, (2) restoring 

the tourism activities, and (3) restoring 

Bali’s economy as a whole. Once again, 

one key to consistently building the trust of 

the tourists is through repetition of health 

protocol implementation and socialization 

campaigns. This will serve as an alarm 

with a snooze button that can be pressed re-

peatedly to keep reminding the people. The 

content and context of this implementation 

and information should also be adjusted to 

match the different segments of the target 

audience and communicated through the 

right media. This will ensure the message 

can be received by the general public while 

also being personalized to target individu-

als by integrating traditional and digital 

media for communication. 

 

Strategies to Support the Acceleration of 

Tourist Visits 

The strategy to build trust must be 

continued by creating incentives for tour-

ists to visit Bali immediately. Even though 

there are still restrictions on international 

travel and border closures in various 

countries, consistent and continuous com-

munication is needed to promote Bali’s 

readiness to welcome back the tourists. 

There are several things that can be done as 

a trial to persuade and encourage tourists, 

which include (1) simulating the imple-

mentation of health protocols through Free 

Covid Corridor, (2) event executions, (3) 

work from Bali campaigns, (4) influencer 

collaboration, and (5) digitalization for 

tourism inclusivity. The following expla-

nation describes these five trial strategies 

as follows. 

 

Free Covid Corridor (FCC) 

The FCC concept is a step to simu-

late the flow of travel for tourists to visit 

Bali safely and conveniently. From filter-

ing tourist arrivals, collecting data through 

e-HAC (electronic-Health Card), access to 

the destinations in the green zones, 3T 

(Testing, Tracing, and Treatment) imple-

mentation, until improving PCR tests. 

These all will provide assurance and confi-

dence for the tourists that they can enjoy 

their visit safely, comfortably, and with 

peace of mind. 

 

Events (MICE) 

To prove that Bali is safe to visit can 

be started from domestic tourists. One of 

the big markets for tourism is the MICE 

(Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and 

Exhibitions) segment. Although almost all 

MICE events are held online during the 

COVID-19 pandemics, with the imple-

mentation of health protocols based on 

CHSE standards and 7M, there is still an 

opportunity for MICE events to be held of-

fline. Given that Bali has many potential 

locations for MICE, then the events should 

be prioritized to take place in Bali. Further-

more, these events will also add to the port-

folio that proves Bali is ready to host 

events with excellent health and safety pro-

tocols implementation. 

 

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Work from Bali 

Digitalization brings changes to 

many things, including the way we work. 

Telecommuters or digital nomads are a 

growing trend in this decade. The rise of 

virtual offices and coworking spaces also 

supports this work style as they do not have 

to work from the same place or office. This 

has created a new tourist market with char-

acteristics of working while vacationing. 

Bali can capture this emerging market, es-

pecially since most workers are required to 

work virtually or not from the office due to 

the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The pandemic has also caused re-

strictions on international travel; hence it is 

difficult for tourists to move from one 

country to another. As a result, many tour-

ists cannot go to their home countries and 

must extend their stay in Bali. This situa-

tion is an opportunity for Bali to promote 

work from Bali initiative in collaboration 

with the tourists. Here, they can act as am-

bassadors to promote the convenience of 

working from Bali to their colleagues at 

home. They can also share that the island is 

safe to visit for leisure travelers or those in-

terested in working while vacationing. 

Moreover, it should also be noted that most 

of these telecommuters or digital nomads 

come from A and B social economic status, 

which are the upper-middle-class with pur-

chasing power. 

 

Collaboration with influencers (“We 

Love Bali” Program) 

One strategy of digital marketing 

communication to attract attention, espe-

cially from today’s millennials, is by work-

ing with influencers. The development of 

social media has promoted a consumer be-

havior that wants to find references about 

the destination before visiting. YouTube, 

Instagram, and Facebook are popular so-

cial media where people look for these ref-

erences, which came from the testimonials 

shared by other travelers who have visited 

the place. 

“We Love Bali” is a program that in-

volves influencers from various commu-

nity circles. This program becomes an es-

sential component to build opinion and 

give stimulus to spike the interest from the 

tourists to visit Bali again. In this program, 

the influencers shared their experience vis-

iting the destinations around Bali while 

also highlighting the new health and safety 

protocols to keep Bali safe to visit. These 

contents will allow the public to see that 

Bali is ready to reopen its tourism industry. 

This collaboration with influencers 

should be optimized with simulation and 

documentation of their experiences as tour-

ists while visiting the destinations in Bali 

and how the island implements health and 

safety protocols. In the future, efforts are 

needed to integrate backlinks from various 

digital media to help boost the traffic of 

visits to expand the audience reach, espe-

cially to tap into those potential tourists 

and stimulate their desire to visit Bali 

again. 

 

Digitalization on tourism inclusivity 

The restriction and limitation to 

travel during the COVID-19 pandemic 

have caused tourists to put their travel 

plans on hold. Surely there is a longing in 

their hearts and minds to resume travels 

and feel the amazing experiences again. As 

we leverage their desire for travel and cre-

ate a nostalgic experience, tourists can be 

tempted to remember their memories of 

traveling even though they cannot travel 

directly. It is possible nowadays through 

various information technology facilities. 

The opportunity for tourists to sat-

isfy their longing for a vacation can be pro-

vided virtually with the assistance of to-

day’s technological advancement. Not 

only vacations, if it is properly integrated, 

this virtual traveling can also be used to do 

a real transaction. Information technology 

optimization can be done through 

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collaborative efforts between the govern-

ment, information system developers, and 

the community around the tourist destina-

tion. A concrete example of this collabora-

tion is the use of augmented reality tech-

nology that is connected to online market-

place applications. Augmented reality will 

allow tourists to do virtual traveling to var-

ious destinations in Bali. The conventional 

outlets by the tourism workers that are lo-

cated around the actual destination can also 

be included in augmented reality. Thereby, 

when the tourists make the virtual trip 

through augmented reality, they can also 

interact with the sellers and make pur-

chases of goods through an integrated 

online marketplace in that augmented real-

ity. Big data is necessary for this initiative, 

and therefore, a collaboration between the 

government, developers, and the commu-

nity is mandatory. In the future, this virtual 

traveling can be promotional content that 

will help tourists experience traveling and 

purchase local products without visiting 

the place directly. 

 

CONCLUSION 

 

Tourism and Balinese economy re-

covery can be achieved by building the 

trust of the tourists, reducing the spread of 

COVID-19, repetition of public awareness 

socialization campaigns on the implemen-

tation of health protocols, providing health 

facilities, medical personnel, and paramed-

ics, tight travel control at the exit and entry 

points in Bali, vaccination of tourism 

workers and the community, and imple-

mentation of green zones. Therefore, the 

tourists will feel safe and comfortable to 

travel. Furthermore, the strategies to en-

courage tourists to travel to Bali are Free 

Covid Corridor, MICE events, work from 

Bali program, influencer collaboration 

through the “We Love Bali” campaign and 

inclusive tourism digitalization. All of 

these will assure tourists that Bali is safe 

from COVID-19. 

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