101 EAST: Bali: Paradise in a Pandemic

Bali has been a top tourist destination since the 1980s. The influx of wealth which followed curious visitors made the Bali people realize that investing in tourism was a good idea. And so they did.

They supplemented their staggering oceanic biodiversity with development in the arts and built many hotels. They have become such an attractive destination that TripAdvisor (a top travel website) awarded them as “the world’s top destination” in 2017 and 2021.

COVID-19, however, forced worldwide travel bans. What happens to a country when 80% of its economy is the tourism industry, and the planes stop coming?

The devastated locals are starting to question whether their dependence on tourism was wise and whether the environmental cost of Bali’s rapid development was worth it.

Perhaps the time has come to build a more sustainable solution?

Friday at 11:30 AM on Aljazeera (ch 257) from Friday, 14 May
Also on Saturday, 15 May at 5:30 AM | Sunday, 16 May at 6:30 PM | Monday, 17 May at 7:30 AM