Bali faces a challenging race against time, with only three months remaining to reach the ambitious target set by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparkeraf) – to welcome 4.5 million foreign tourists in 2023.
As of August, the cumulative number of foreign tourist visits to Bali reached 3,418,907, leaving a substantial gap of 1,081,093 foreign tourists yet to visit.
Endang Retno Sri Subiyandani, Head of the Bali Province Central Statistics Agency (BPS Bali Province), reported a remarkable 282.14 percent increase in foreign tourist visits from January to August 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
Australian tourists topped the list with 844,483 visitors, constituting 24.71 percent of the total.
Following Australia, Indian tourists secured the second spot with 288,430 visits, while British tourists came in third with 173,051 visits.
Notably, Chinese tourists ranked fourth, contributing 171,634 visits, and the fifth position was claimed by 168,145 US tourists.
Singapore, South Korea, France, Malaysia, and Germany also featured prominently in the top ten.
However, in August, Bali experienced a slight dip in foreign tourist visits, totaling 522,141, marking a 3.55 percent decrease compared to July when 541,353 tourists arrived. Australians remained the largest group visiting Bali in August, with 120,467 visits, followed by tourists from India, France, China, and England.
Despite this, there is a pressing need to boost tourism in Bali as the current room occupancy rate (TPK) for star hotels in August stood at 60.64 percent, down 2.60 points from July. The average guest stay duration was 2.55 days, while non-star hotels reported an average of 2.22 days.
The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has set a target of 4.5 million foreign tourists for Bali in 2023, aiming to revive the island’s tourism sector post-Covid-19. Tjokorda Bagus Pemayun, Head of the Bali Tourism Service, expressed optimism in achieving this target, highlighting the rising trend in foreign tourist arrivals after the pandemic-induced downturn.