Australian Travelers Continue To Be The Most Frequent International Arrivals In Bali

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The Central Statistics Agency for Bali Province (BPS) has revealed tourist arrival data for January 2023. Speaking on behalf of the agency, the Head of the Bali Province BPS told reporters of the five countries with the highest number of foreign visits to Bali. In total, Bali welcomed 331,912 international arrivals in January 2023.

The Head of the Central Statistics Agency for Bali Province, Hanif Yahya, told reporters that most of the over 300,000 arrivals in January came from five countries. There were Australia, Russia, India, South Korea, and Singapore. Yahya said, “the visits of foreign tourists who enter Bali according to their citizenships in January 2023 were dominated by Australia. So there are 91,244 [from Australia], or if we compare it with the condition of December 2022, there is a decrease of 3.3%”.

This decrease is to be expected as December is part of the peak season in Bali, where hundreds of thousands of travelers arrive to celebrate Christmas and New Year on the island. The official start of the low season begins in the third week of January.

Yahya continued to reveal that Bali welcomed 22,104 Russian nationals in January, followed by 21,700 people from India, 17,598 from South Korea, and 16,685 from Singapore. Despite efforts from tourism stakeholders to attract more tourists from China to Bali, the number of arrivals from mainland China reminds low.

More direct flight schedules from across China and Australia will launch in March and April. In total, thirteen airlines have applied to create new flight schedules at Bali Airport. Officials were unable to confirm the names of each airline until the requests had been signed off. They have revealed, however, that the application has come from airlines based in the USA, India, Russia, Japan, and China.

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Overall Bali saw a 12.02% decrease in international arrivals into I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in January 2023 compared to December. Yahya also discussed the data not only in terms of nationalities but by continent. He said, “according to regional forge in tourists, only foreign tourists from Europe experienced an increase in visits in January, which was 0.19%, while other regions experienced a decrease in visits.”

Tourist arrivals from across Africa to Bali decreased by 36.58%, from 4,317 arrivals in December to 2,738 in January. Likewise, arrivals from the Americas fell by 10.23%, from ASEAN nations by 36.02%, from other parts of Asia by 11.8%, and from the Middle East by 21.94%.

Yahya concluded, “this decrease in visits is indeed common at the beginning of the first month of the year; domestic and foreign tourists show a decline because the trend is like that. So as long as there is a vacation, usually the peak is high”.

He ended the statement with a note of optimism. He said, “this is still above averages compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a good time, especially now there are flights that go directly to Bali that also support more foreign tourist visits”.

Confirmation that the number of arrivals was in line with targets will be welcome news o tourism stakeholders in Bali. Though there is an open discourse about the wish for more and more international arrivals to the island, the conversation this week has been eclipsed by the issue of foreigners working illegally in Bali.

While Indonesia is a welcoming country and has many a destination that is actively encouraging more visitors, the visa system must be respected. It is becoming increasingly apparent that there is a small but growing number of foreigners operating illegal businesses and working in Bali. So much so that the provincial government has set up a specialist task force to deal with the issue.

The Head of the Provincial Tourism Office, Tjok Bagus Pemayun, has confirmed that all available resources from the government office, immigration department, and police will be deployed to crack down on foreigners working illegals in the Island of the Gods.