According to reports by the Indonesian Government, Bali will see approximately 12 million foreign tourist visitors nationwide, by the end of 2016.
In the first six months of 2016, the island welcomed 2.27 million international arrivals, 18.6% more than the same period in 2015.
This also marks the first time Bali has welcomed more than two million visitors in the first half of a year.
Arrivals from Australia and mainland China are driving this growth. Bali welcomed 536,767 Australian and 464,002 Chinese visitors in the first six months of 2016, up 10.7% and 36.2% year-on-year respectively. This means that these two countries accounted for 44% of total arrivals to Bali in the first half.
Hiramsyah Thaib who works in tourism development at the Ministry of Tourism said that, the number of foreign tourists for the first half of 2016 has achieved 44% of the annual target of 12 million people.
Looking back at 2015, Thaib said tourist arrivals were pleasing, achieving 10.4 million foreign visitors, a total that exceed the revised government target and generated US$12.3 billion in foreign exchange. Meanwhile, domestic tourist trips in 2015 totaled 259 million journeys.
A rising number of flights connecting Bali with China and Australia have contributed to this growth, including new low-cost flights by Tigerair and multiple Chinese charter services.
