On a year-to-date basis, 2006 has tallied 1,375,882 visitors during the first ten months of the year. This total sped past the 1,247,917 visitors recorded for January-October 2005 – the previous best opening ten months for Bali tourism.
With year-to-date Bali arrivals +34.1% ahead of 2006, Balidiscovery.com remains confident that its projection of 1.7 million foreign visitors for the year will be achieved.
Key Markets at a Glance
• Japan remains Bali's leading source of foreign visitors. YTD there were +41.79% more Japanese (299,444) visiting Bali than just one year ago (210,924). Current arrivals figures will, however, have to improve a further +5.3% to achieve a par performance with the heyday of Japanese arrivals recorded in 2000.
• Australia - Still the second largest producer of foreign visitors, the deleterious effects of past terrorist attacks and recent high-profile drug trials seem to be fading from memory with Australian arrivals YTD +53.5% better than 2006 for the first ten months of the year. Good news, no doubt, but any jubilation is tempered by the knowledge that Australian arrivals still lag -29% behind the record number of Australian who visited Bali through the end of October 2005.
• Taiwan - Something of a stalwart in terms of its steady production of visitors to Bali, Taiwan arrivals YTD increased +1.3% in 2007 through the end of October. There's still a game of "catch up" to be played with Taiwanese visitors -22.24% behind what they were in 2002.
• South Korea - Bali is enjoying its best year ever in terms of South Korean visitors, improving +64.46% YTD over 2006 through the end of October 2007.
• ASEAN - The other 9 nations comprising the regional political and trade grouping improved +32.5% through the end of October 2007. Low cost airlines plying regional routes have played a central role in creating what is essentially a new market for Bali tourism.
• Europe - European arrivals January-October 2007 are up +21.02% over the previous year. Holland and France are leading the European recovery in Bali tourism. Arrivals lag only a modest -5.3% behind the "best ever" performance from Europe through the end of October recorded in 2001.
• The Americas - Although recording a YTD improvement of +19.4% for the period January-October 2007, arrivals from North and South America are still a woeful -26.47% behind arrivals the halcyon days of 2000 when 91,499 visitors from The Americas visited Bali through the end of October.
• Peoples Republic of China - Rising from negligible totals just 8 years ago, Mainland Chinese have become a major source of visitors to Bali, up a staggering +131% YTD for the first ten months of 2007. Ease of visas and more flight access suggest that these numbers may continue with dramatic rates of growth in the years ahead.
