Bali experienced a surge in visitor arrivals in the first half of 2016, and is now on track to smash its previous full-year record.
According to the latest official data, reported by BaliDiscovery.com, the ‘Island of the Gods’ welcomed 2.27 million international arrivals in the first six months of the year, 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.
If this growth rate is sustained until the end of 2016, Bali can expect to end the year with a record 4.75 million international visitors. Its previous all-time-high of just over four million visitors was set last 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.
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.
Japan (+5.1% to 109,424) was the third largest source market, followed by the UK (+42.8% to 98,311) and India (+56.1% to 92,731), both of which have surged into the top five this year. Arrivals from the nearby markets of Malaysia (-9.1% to 89,626) and Singapore (-8.4% to 69,224) however, both declined.
In total, Indonesia welcomed 5.29m international visitors in the first half of 2016, and the country is targeting 12m overseas visitors for the full-year.
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