Bali by the Numbers: Half-Yearly Results Compared for 2000-2008 as Bali Heads for Record 2 Million Foreign Visitors.
(7/28/2008)
The foreign arrivals figures to Bali covering the first six months of 2008 are now in. Month-after-month of record breaking arrival totals support the increasingly popular view that 2008 will see 2 million plus foreign tourists pass through Bali's International airport – the first time Bali has penetrated the 2 million barrier.
June arrivals hit 170,994 - a +17.8% increase over June 2007 (145,174). On a year
to date basis, arrivals during the first six months of 2008 were 924,949 – that's
+23.9% ahead of the same period last year when 745,949 foreign tourists came to
Bali. If Bali manages to maintain this same level of growth through the remainder
of 2008, total arrivals will "just" break through the two million mark by the
end of the year.
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Arrivals From 5 Major Markets to BaliBali top five producers of inbound tourists, in order of importance, remain Japan, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and the People's Republic of China.
● Japan has regained its former glory and is producing numbers exceeding totals achieved in the year 2000. This is particularly gratifying given the fact that Bali arrivals are improving ex Japan in what as seen as a general decline in Japanese travelers globally.
● Australian arrivals to Bali are now exceeding the record levels posted in 2005, regaining all lost ground incurred with the demise of
Air Paradise following the second terrorist attack of 2005. Barring any untoward developments, Australian totals will pull into impressive "record territory" for the rest of 2008.
● Taiwan and South Korea continue to post modest improvements. Look for a possible decline in Taiwanese visitors in the just announced liberalized flight rules between the PRC and Taiwan which may lure potential Bali visitors away, at least in the short term.
● The People's Republic of China has almost doubled the number of visitors over
last years. These numbers will be watched carefully to see if Chinese numbers
decrease during the coming Olympic period (August) with mainland tourists opting
to spend their holiday closer-to-home in Beijing.
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The Importance of ASEAN
An abundance of low cost carriers operating on an intra-ASEAN basis have made
the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) an important source
of Bali visitors, filling any possible shortfall in U.S. and European visitors.
Dominating
ASEAN arrivals to Bali are the Malaysians who continuously demonstrate
strong year-on-year growth. Singapore arrivals, while having grown dramatically
over the past 9 years, have largely hit a plateau since 2003.
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The Americas and Key European Countries● The Americas, including both North and South America, dropped off dramatically following 9-11 (2001) and the 2002 Bali bombing. Since then, numbers have slowly regained strength each year, now trailing only 10-15% behind the "best" year of 2000.
● The U.K. market, although improving +23.4% over 2007, still lags more than 35% behind its heydays in 2001 and 2002.
Garuda's withdrawal from Europe and the lack of alternate carrier options remains the major stumbling block for the recovery of the U.K. and most European markets.
● German arrivals are up +24.1% for January-June 2008, but still shy by some 10% of the totals achieved in 2000 and 2001.
● French arrivals increased +35.4% for the first six month of 2008, logging in the strongest performance ever from that Country.
● The Netherlands are also coming in record numbers to Bali, achieving 25,695 visitors in the first six months of 2008.
● The Russian market continues to amaze. +64.8% more Russians visited Bali in January-June 2008, as compared to the same period last year. The 30,445 Russian tourists who came to Bali in the first six months of 2008 represent a 91% average annual rate of growth in visitors from that market since 2001.
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