REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DENPASAR -- Bali vice governor Ketut Sudikerta has announced that the Besakih temple area, popularly known as the Pura Besakih, at the foot of Mt Agung, will be reopened soon for the public and tourists.

"But when the Pura Besakih area is reopened, I ask the public and tourists to remain vigilant and follow the instructions from the authorities," Sudikerta said while chairing an internal meeting of the Temple Operational Management here on Wednesday.

Following the eruption of Mt Agung, the Besakih temple area has been closed since November 25, 2017.

However, seeing the improvement in the status of Mt Agung, and the approval of President Joko Widodo to revoke the emergency response status around the disaster area, Sudikerta has decided to re-open the largest temple in Bali soon.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya stated in Kuta last Friday that tourism in Bali had returned to normal after being affected by the volcanic eruption of Mt Agung.

"Some time ago, the number of tourist arrivals to Bali had dropped dramatically, but now tourism is back to normal, with the average number of tourist arrivals currently reaching 12,300 per day," Yahya remarked at a press conference after attending a meeting with President Joko Widodo.

The tourism minister said the figure of 12.3 thousand travelers per day has reached some 80 percent of the normal number. Yahya further called on the media to maintain a conducive environment.

The minister also revealed that intensive marketing activities will be undertaken to attract more tourists to Bali.

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