The number of domestic and foreign tourists in Lombok, West Nusa
Tenggara (NTB), has significantly increased ahead of Nyepi, the Day of
Silence in Bali, which falls on Saturday.
“Since yesterday [Wednesday], we’ve seen an increase in the flow of
foreign tourists to Lombok.
They want to spend the holiday in a relaxed
atmosphere, as Bali and Lombok have really different atmospheres during
Nyepi,” said the chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant
Association's (PHRI) NTB chapter, Lalu Abdul Hadi Faisal, in Mataram on
Thursday.
He said the trend could be seen in the spike in occupancy rates of hotels in Lombok.
Currently, the average occupancy rate stands at 60 to 65 percent in
Mataram and its surrounding areas and it can reach up to 75 percent in
tourist resort areas such as Gili Trawangan in North Lombok and
Senggigi, West Lombok.
Apart from Nyepi in Bali, Hadi said, the increase in visitors to
Lombok also had to do with a string of conferences and research
activities that would be conducted in the area over the weekend.
“Around 300 students of Muhammadiyah University from Sidoarjo, East
Java, for example, will come to Lombok. Because of Nyepi in Bali, they
have decided to stay in hotels in Lombok for their meeting,” he said.
Lombok International Airport (LIA) general manager I Gusti Ngurah
Ardita said that on Nyepi, eight flights from Ngurah Rai International
Airport to LIA and vice versa would be halted until Sunday.
Source - TheJakartaPost
