Published on : Saturday, March 2, 2019
Gili Trawangan, a popular tourist spot along with its neighboring islands of Gili Meno and Gili Air, was left devastated after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Lombok on August 5. Majority of the buildings on the island were destroyed.
Now, construction workers are busy rebuilding the resorts. Small piles of debris left from the earthquake are still visible in the corners of the island.
Beachside cafes, bicycle rentals and scuba diving spots were mostly deserted after the earthquake, as their owners looked around, hoping to attract the few passersby.
The number of tourists in Lombok went down following the earthquake. The Tourism Ministry said that between September and December 2018, the figure dropped by 66 percent compared to the same period the year before. After the earthquake, international visitor figures fell to 3,000.
The Tourism Ministry confirmed that the number of domestic travelers visiting Lombok also dropped considerably.
On top of that, Indonesia also saw the eruptions of Mount Anak Krakatau in the Sunda Strait, Mount Agung in Bali and the Banten tsunami in the same year.