Bali Named Top Summer Vacation Destination For European Tourists In 2024

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Travel data released by hotel booking platform Agoda shows that European tourists’ interest in traveling to Bali is soaring.

The news confirms the recent statements by Bali tourism leaders regarding the need to implement more direct flights from top European cities to I Gusti Ngurah Rai International. 

Data from the travel platform shows that compared to this time in 2023, booking rates for Asia by European tourists have increased 25%.

This makes Asia the most in-demand continent for travel by European tourists outside of Europe, and the trend shows no sign of slowing down. 

Of the top five countries in demand by European tourists Indonesia comes in a close second place to Thailand.

The top five is completed by Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines. Naturally, the most in demand destination in Indonesia is Bali.

As the country’s flagship tourism destination Bali is consistently the most searched for and booked destination in the country. 

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Data shows that the top travel markets that are searching for summer travel in Asia include the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands.

In a press statement, Andrew Smith, Senior Vice President of Supply Agoda, said, “The increase in interest compared to last year shows the increasing popularity of Asia as a holiday destination for European tourists.”

He added, “It’s great to see more and more Europeans exploring Asia’s incredible destinations during their holiday season.” Smith also emphasised how the platform is committed to helping European tourists explore the globe in an affordable way. 

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As more and more European tourists book their summer vacations in Bali, tourism leaders are calling on airlines and the government to do more to facilitate direct flights to the island.

With most European tourists having to book a layover in Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore or Jakarta before flying onwards to I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. 

In an interview conducted earlier this month, Bali Sales and Marketing Community (BASACOMM) trustee Gufron told reporters, “Bali continues to move, even for the Australian market. Apart from Australia, tourists from Europe also have the potential to visit Bali. Like Germany, tourist visits from that country will increase by 14.23 percent in 2024.”

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He added, “In fact, the current challenge is the airline flight. Airline prices are quite high, especially in Europe. Therefore, there must be a policy from the government. BASACOMM suggests that there is a need for additional direct flights. Indeed, there are direct flights from Qatar, Turkey, Singapore and others, but they are still very lacking.”

However, as there are calls for making Bali even more accessible, there are concerns being raised that Bali has become ‘colonized’ and that the island has become ‘too capitalistic.’

Bali tourism expert Made Sulasa Jaya has citizen the attitude of the Indonesian Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno for his focus on economic results over social and environmental sustainability. 

Jaya said, “The goal of tourism is how many tourists come, how much money tourists spend, that’s all. Have you ever thought about what the quality of tourism should be?”

“Now, the people who talk about Bali tourism are mostly GIPI; those are all entrepreneurs in it. Are all the entrepreneurs at GIPI willing to think about our cultural values? Entrepreneurs definitely don’t think that way. They think, why should I waste money thinking about that?”

Jaya noted the recently viral saga where Canggu was re-listed on GoogleMaps as ‘New Moscow.” he condemned Minister Uno’s reaction to the situation.

Jaya said, “In Balinese terms, the current tourism costs are ‘liunang kerirun’. There is little to care for tourism; Minster [Uno] only looks at the economic results and pays very little attention to the impact and the sustainability.”

Jaya said that he wants to see real sustainable tourism implemented across Bali, not just ‘lip service’, and that the revenue generated by the tourism tax must be fully used to support improvements to tourism.