Visitor numbers to the tropical island of Bali are still running at less than 40 per cent of their normal levels, six months after a terrorist bomb killed more than 200 people in a night club.
The trial of the first suspect to be charged with the attack begins this week, and, according to The Independent on Sunday, the island’s population is keen to see justice done – but much more important is the need to revitalise the tourism industry, which has been decimated since last October. Before the bombing, at the Sari nightclub in Denpasar, around 5,000 people a day arrived on the island. These days the average is around 1,800 – and some 80 per cent of the local population is dependent on tourism.
The newspaper’s Kathy Marks writes: “At Jimbaram Bay, a sweeping white crescent in southern Bali famous for its gorgeous sunsets, the entire micro-economy is affected. With hotels and resorts struggling to attract guests, there are empty tables at the long string of seafood restaurants where diners are caressed by a gentle sea breeze as they feast on fish barbecued over coconut husks.”
One waiter tells her: “Before the bomb it was very busy. Since the bomb it is very, very quiet.”
