Cut fruit

Paradise reopened - Bali hopes for tourists to return
From his home high atop the cliffs overlooking Bali's resort district of Jimbaran, German expat Pak Kriss has a perfect, unobstructed view of the island's international airport.

Composed of a single runway stretching out into the ocean, Mr Kriss notes that at its pre-pandemic peak, it handled some 700 flights a day, ushering more than 6.3 million international tourists a year to the Indonesian island.

"Then, one day… nothing," he says with a sweep of his hands. He expected it to last a few weeks, but it went on for two years.

In 2020 the island received just one million foreign visitors, almost all before Bali and the rest of the world went into lockdown in March of that year. Then in 2021 the island reportedly saw just 45 overseas tourists. Yes, just 45 people.

Paradise reopened - Bali hopes for tourists to return The Indonesian island wants holidaymakers to come back as it reopens after two years.