Work from Bali: A local’s perspective

If you happen to travel to Bali recently, you will probably see taxi drivers lining up in front of the arrival area at I Gusti Ngurahrai International Airport. Gusti is one of the airport taxi drivers in Bali. However, he only went back to being a taxi driver since the pandemic hit the island of Gods.

He told TFR he started his career as an airport taxi driver in 1997. As time went by, he opened his own transportation rental business. Unfortunately, his business could not survive the pandemic and he had to go back to driving an airport taxi for a living.

“I lost four of my cars to the dealer,” said Gusti. “I couldn’t pay the lease.” Gusti is among millions of Balinese currently facing the ongoing economic downturn.

Bali is a city that relies heavily on tourism. Tourism-based businesses such as hotels, transportation rentals, clubs, souvenir shops and many others fail to survive since the pandemic turns the once bustling tourist spots into quiet space.

In order to cushion the impact of the pandemic, the government earlier this year decided to prioritise Bali and Java islands for the second vaccination phase. 70% of the second vaccination phase will be allocated to both islands while the remaining 30% will be allocated to other parts of the country. When this article is being written, the vaccination process in Bali for every public-related line of work is nearly complete.

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime & Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan in early May launched the Work from Bali programme for State Civil Apparatus (ASN) in his ministry and other seven ministries or institutions within their coordination. The programme is also encouraged to other lines of work as well. According to Deputy for Tourism and Creative Economy Coordination Odo R.M. Manuhutu, the programme aims to improve the public’s confidence to travel and boost Bali’s economy.

In response to this initiative, Gusti is as optimistic as the government. He thinks that the programme is a good idea. “I hope that the international airport will reopen and more guests will come to Bali.”

But not everyone echoes the same optimism. CS, a digital nomad based in Bali, approached this topic with skepticism as she last year witnessed how the programme to revive the economy in Bali flopped. The government last year flew more than 4,000 social media influencers to Bali in order to promote tourism. The 3-day-2-night trip cost Rp20 billion in total.

“In its implementation, they chose the so-called influencers randomly,” she added. “People who are actually living in Bali are being supported literally by the community itself. Everyone is being very supportive.”

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno stated that the Work from Bali  programme is going to commence in July. The programme is expected to increase hotel occupancy rate to 30%. Based on the ministry’s official statement, there are more than 7,000 visitors as of today.

Sandiaga also stated that the government is open to the possibility for other areas in Indonesia to develop similar programmes, Work from Lombok or Work from Toba for instance.

After the Work from Bali programme was announced, Governor of Solo Gibran Rakabuming Raka followed Luhut’s steps and announced the Work from Solo programme. He believes that Solo has the potential to request the programme as the city is known to be a comfortable place to live in.