Gili Trawangan: Chef Ilhani, who used to serve Japanese cuisine to vacationers every night, now earns just $3 a day selling fried snacks on the empty streets of the once bustling Gili Trawangan.
The coronavirus pandemic has closed almost all resorts and restaurants in Indonesia’s Gili Islands, which are famous for their turquoise waters, sandy beaches and diverse marine life.
Located close to Bali, tourism and the local economy were booming, with about 1,500 foreign visitors visiting Trawangan every day.
But when authorities first imposed a nationwide virus lockdown in March 2020 and then closed borders to international travelers, his restaurant could not survive the loss of business.
Almost two years later, he says he is struggling to support his wife and four children.
“Life is painfully difficult now. I sell fried snacks because it’s something that locals can buy,” he told AFP, “In the past, everything we sell, there were tourists who would buy , but now as you can see the island is deserted.”
The three Gili islands – Trawangan, Maino and Air – have long been dependent on foreign travelers. According to Lalu Kusnawan, president of the Gili Hotel Association, which runs a resort in Travangan, there are around 800 hotels with 7,000 rooms, but only 20 to 30 properties are open.
Shops, bars, cafes, restaurants all stand empty, some for sale, others completely abandoned. Tables and chairs that are not in use for a long time tend to collect dust and cobwebs.
The workers who once worked there have been forced to find other ways to earn a living – some have turned to fishing to feed their families.
The coronavirus pandemic will cost the global tourism sector $2.0 trillion in lost revenue in 2021 – the same loss as 2020, the UN tourism body warned last week.
International tourist arrivals this year will be 70-75 per cent lower than the 1.5 billion arrivals recorded in 2019, according to the World Tourism Organization, adding that the sector’s recovery will be “fragile” and “slow”.
Ilhani fears the suffering will be prolonged as the Indonesian government now plans to impose strict virus restrictions in anticipation of a new wave of infections.
In the port of Gili Trawangan, most boats – used to transfer tourists from island to island or to reach diving sites – have been anchored for months. A little further, a pontoon is left to rot.
The borders officially reopened in October, but direct international flights to Bali have yet to resume as tourists face a quarantine and strict visa requirements, limiting demand .
And as fears grow over the new Covid variant Omicron, Indonesia has extended its mandatory quarantine by ten days, dashing hopes of an imminent tourism revival.
Kusnawan fears he and his fellow islanders can’t take much.
“We’re not just bleeding, but now we don’t have blood to shed… we were already in bad shape before Omicron,” he said.
Abdian Saputra, who runs a boat service from Bali to the islands, said he had to sell his assets and lay off half his staff to keep his business open because the pandemic meant fewer sailors were necessary.
“I rarely see any new travelers since the pandemic. If we stop, businesses like hotels will also die. We are helping each other to be able to survive,” he said.
“But if the situation continues like this, my business may take its last breath in January or early February next year,” he said.
But for foreign travelers who arrived in Indonesia before the border was closed, or who already lived in the country, the situation has enabled them to explore the island paradise troubled by mass tourism.
Nicolas Lindbach, originally from Norway, explained: “I will never experience an island like this again, but if I had to choose I would love to back tourism … because the locals are already suffering enough. “
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