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Image: New Toll Roads on Java. Credit: prfmnews.com.

As the traffic jams increased around south Bali this week, it was reported by the local press that there has been a decrease in domestic arrivals at Denpasar Airport over the Idul Fitri Mudik period of 6.53% and a drop of 20.23 percent of domestic travelers leaving the island to go home till Monday night.

It was also reported that domestic tourist arrivals to Ngurah Rai have also decreased 12 percent since January.

“The impact of the increase in domestic ticket prices is very bad for tourism, almost all airports are now deserted. Since the increase in ticket prices in January to now, the number of domestic tourists coming to Bali has fallen by around 12 percent,” said the head of the Bali Tourism Office AA Gede Yuniartha to NusaBali on Sunday (2/6).

As we have seen over the past few days on the island, the choice of transport this year for Idul Fitri holidays appears to be private vehicles, as massive traffic jams are being seen around the island’s tourist zones.

The high price of airplane tickets since the start of this year is being cited often in the local press as the reason for this year’s return to macet (traffic jam) as domestic visitors choose to travel by bus, private car or motorbike over airplanes.

Gede Yuniartha also said that so far foreign tourist arrivals to Bali have not been affected by high prices of airplane tickets. “So the decline continues to occur only for domestic tourists,” he said.

According to him, the number of tourists using land transportation during holidays is also being influenced by the implementation of the new Trans Java and Sumatra infrastructure and better road systems in the past year.

Meanwhile, Gilimanuk crossings to Java peaked on Sunday and Yuniartha said that the situation there is running smoothly. It was reported there were less travelers going to Java, but already an increase of 8% over last year coming to Bali from Java and that was only till Monday night.

Yesterday there were still more vehicles heading to Bali and there are also more holidaymakers expected to cross the straights to Bali after today and tomorrow’s Idul Fitri public holidays.

However, having many visitors to Bali is always good for business. ST has received reports that most hotels, restaurants and venues have seen a substantial increase in numbers over the past few days as people eventually park their cars and begin their holidays.

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri, Mohon Maaf Lahir dan Batin

Editor: KT Gede Suarto