Bali businesses struggle to convince tourists it's safe amid volcanic eruption
Tourist industry in holiday island's poorest district, in northeast, hit hardest by Mount Agung’s eruption, which has spewed ash kilometres into the air
Frantic shop owners in Bali have been trying to persuade tourists that they are still open for business, but volcano Mount Agung’s eruption tells another story.
“We are still open, we’re 18 kilometres away from the volcano. Another mountain protects us. The wind is not coming to Amed, and even if it did, the ash would not reach us,” says Nyoman Miskin Aryana.
Almost 19,000 mainland Chinese and Hong Kong visitors stranded in Bali as ash from Mount Agung keeps flights grounded
The Balinese man runs a three-bedroom guest house in Amed, a coastal village normally popular with scuba divers and travellers seeking a quiet getaway on the less developed northeastern shore of Bali. However, business has been slow, and it’s only to be expected. Mount Agung has spewed ash kilometres into the air, forcing the closure of the island’s international airport for almost three full days and stranding tens of thousands of tourists. The airport reopened late on Wednesday, but it was unclear whether all flights would resume. If wind conditions change it could be closed again.
As the volcano continues to hurl ash skywards and shows signs of an imminent bigger eruption, life in many parts of the island have been affected.
About 100,000 people who live within the “danger zone” of its slopes were ordered to evacuate.