As a resort island whose global popularity often outshines that of the country where it's located, Bali takes tourism very seriously. Consequently, capable management of events that threaten the island, its residents and visitors is crucial. Those management skills have been tested to the limit over the past two weeks as the eruptions from Mount Agung grow more ominous.
Authorities first raised the alert to level three, the second-highest level, on Sept 18 when the volcano on the northeastern side of Bali started to rumble. Four days later, on Sept 22, the warning was raised to level four or "full alert", with an exclusion zone extending eight kilometres in every direction from the crater.
Ida Bagus Partha Adnyana, head of the Bali Tourism Board, said a task force set up by the board two months ago drew up contingency plans to ensure that the island's most important economic sector will be protected in the event of a major eruption.
The Bali Tourism Hospitality Task Force unites all tourism and government stakeholders to respond to emergencies resulting from the eruptions. It has about 50 people working in a call centre that is open around the clock, and up to 400 people in the field in various spots, including at I Gusti Ngurah Rai international airport, to assist tourists.
"When Mount Agung's status was downgraded to level three in late October, we kept the task force functioning because the volcanology agency told us that the decreased activity was only temporary," Mr Adnyana told Asia Focus.
The mountain erupted again on Nov 20, and over the weekend of Nov 25-26 the activity grew more intense, as the volcano spewed thick ash clouds as high as 4,000 metres into the sky. The ash drifted into the airspace of Bali airport and another international airport on the neighbouring island of Lombok, causing authorities to close them intermittently.
Bali airport was closed last Monday and Tuesday, with hundreds of inbound and outbound flights diverted or cancelled, and thousands of tourists stranded. It was reopened on Wdnesday after authorities, who review conditions every six hours, downgraded the Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation (Vona) from red, which means ash has reached more than 1,000 feet in elevation, to orange, or below 1,000 feet.
I Made Mangku Pastika, the governor of Bali, issued a circular urging hotels to provide free one-night stays for guests who were supposed to fly out last Monday but couldn't leave because of the airport closure.
"In general, most hotels complied and for the following nights we made sure that hotels in Bali offered their guests the best rates available for those who still had to extend their stays because the airport closure was prolonged," I Ketut Ardana, chairman of Bali chapter of the Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (Asita), told Asia Focus.
The task force took care of 2,315 tourists who were stranded as a result of the airport closure, as well as those who chose to travel overland to take ferries to neighbouring Java, from where they could take outbound flights.
Mr Ardana said tourists were still being taken overland to the ferry port on Thursday to help clear the backlog of stranded passengers even though the airport had repened.
Almost all of the international tourists visiting Bali arrive by air. According to data from the Central Statistics Agency, the island welcomed 550,520 international tourists -- led by Chinese, Australian and Japanese visitors --in September, and all but 282 arrived via the airport.
Tourism accounts for most of the island's gross domestic product, which was was 55.9 trillion rupiah (US$3.9 billion) in the third quarter of this year. The highest growth during that period came from the hotel and food and beverage sectors, which contributed 10.7% to the total.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said that the danger zone was still mainly within a radius of 8-10 kilometres from the crater. The rest of the island, including major tourist enclaves such as Kuta, Legian, Nusa Dua and Sanur which are on the south and southeastern side of the island and up to 80 kilometres from the volcano, remain safe for tourists to visit.
"Tourism activities in those areas remain normal," Mr Adnyana said.
Arista Atmadjati, an aviation and tourism analyst from Universitas Gajah Mada in Yogyakarta, said Indonesian aviation authorities and others involved in disaster mitigation have become quite well prepared to deal with challenges.
"We are used to having increased volcanic activity and eruptions and Bali airport has been closed before when volcanoes on neighbouring island spewed ash clouds that drifted into its airspace. So, there's a mitigation procudure in place," Mr Atmadjati told Asia Focus.
Mount Agung is one of the 127 active volcanoes spread across the Indonesian archipelago. Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra is also the subject of a highest alert.
The state-owned air navigation services company AirNav Indonesia issues a Notice to Airmen (Notam) announcing the closure and opening of airports in emergency cases.
Last Thursday it issued a notice announcing the closure of Lombok Praya international airport from 10.37am local time to midnight after coordination with the meteorology and climatology agency and the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation. This followed an analysis of Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center observations which showed that ash had drifted into Lombok's airspace. The airport reopened on Friday.
Mr Atmadjati said the issuance of a Notam was based on rigorous technical analysis and was unequivocal and non-negotiable.
"When the data based on factual considerations of volcanic ash already shows a critical level, authorities wil issue the notice to close airports. There's no negotiation on that matter," he said, adding that it would be up to the airlines to advise their passengers and address their concerns accordingly to make the flight disruptions less frustating for them.
The 3,142-metre-high Mount Agung or "majestic mountain" is culturally and spiritually the most sacred volcano for Balinese people. Its slopes are the site of the Pura Besakih temple compound, the holiest of all temples on the island and also a major tourist attraction. Mount Agung last erupted in 1963 for a year and killed an estimated 1,100 people.
