ost of the businesses operating in the tourism industry are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This is especially true in small island destinations, where many SMEs often depend financially on tourism. This paper investigates what characteristics tourism SMEs that survived the COVID-19 pandemic in Bali have. This study uses a deductive approach to describe the characteristics of the surviving tourism SMEs in Bali. The data were obtained through conducting qualitative semi-structured interviews with 15 business owners and managers of tourism SMEs in Bali, Indonesia. The data was analyzed through a thematic analysis. The analysis found five distinct categories shared among most of the tourism SMEs interviewed. From these five categories, five main characteristics behind the survival of the SMEs were derived: 1. minimizing variable costs, 2.focus on promotional activities, 3. bonding network, 4. owning property, and 5.creating new products and/or services.
