Bali has confirmed its tourism targets for 2024.
In late 2023, the Indonesian Ministry for Tourism and Creative Economies announced nationwide targets, and now the Island of the Gods has revealed goals for the year ahead.
The Indonesian Ministry for Tourism and Creative Economies has confirmed that they are targeting the welcoming of 14 million international tourists in 2024.
With over 11.4 million international arrivals exploring the archipelago in 2023, the incremental increase is very achievable when considering current travel trends.
Since Bali is the flagship tourism destination in Indonesia, every year the provincial government sets individual targets for the number of tourists it wants to welcome.
Bali’s Provincial Tourism Service, Tjok Bagus Pemayun, has told reports that he and his teams are confident that the Island of the Gods will be able to attract 7 million tourists in 2024.
This would be higher than before the pandemic when 6.5 million tourists visited the island annually. This would mark a 40% increase in tourist arrivals to Bali from 2023 to 2024.
The Provincial Tourist Authorities have revealed travel data for arrivals from 1st January 2023 through to 26th December 2023.
Data shows that 5,232,751 foreign visitors arrived in Bali in 2023, with a couple hundred thousand more arriving in the final days of the year ahead of the New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Foreign arrivals to Bali remain dominated by Australians, who account for upwards of 25% of arrivals, followed by Indian tourists, and tourists from mainland China, the UK, USA, South Korea, France, Singapore, Germany, and Malaysia.
With even more tourists planning on visiting Bali in 2024, leaders have acknowledged that changes need to be made fast.
Over the last week, shocking scenes have been observed across Bali with traffic congestion reaching a complete standstill even on toll roads and highways.
Thousands of tourists on the Mandara Toll Road leading I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport had no option but to abandon their taxis part way through the journey to walk or run the rest of the way with their luggage in tow.
Pemayun confirmed to reporters that tourism and transport authorities will be learning from the mistakes made over this festive season.
He explained to reporters on Tuesday afternoon that “Yesterday’s experience with traffic jams is certainly a lesson for us so that this year, hopefully, it won’t happen again. Because yesterday, if we looked at the number of vehicles at the end of the year compared to Christmas, the number was still high at Christmas.
An emergency shuttle bus service was laid on from the 2-4th January to help alleviate some of the pressure on the roads and get as many tourists to the airport on time as possible.
Yet, in 2024, the Bali Province Government will have more funds to play with to help make tourist’s experience of the island easier and more memorable for the right reasons.
The new Bali tourism tax will be introduced on the 14th of February. All international arrivals will be required to pay the IDR 150,000 (approx USD 10) fee.
With over 7 million tourists planning to visit the island this year, and only eleven months of the year not generating funds once introduced, the Bali Provincial government will have access to over USD 65 million to invest in leveling up tourism infrastructure.
Bali will remain Indonesia’s top tourist destination for many years to come, though the Tourism Minister, Sandiaga Uno, wants to see tourists exploring more of the country.
With more domestic routes being added to the schedule at Bali Airport, tourists have more options than ever to add a few extra days of adventure to their vacation.
Top destinations outside of Bali include Lombok, Lake Toba in Sumatra, Sulawesi, Labuan Bajo for Komodo National Park, and the Sumba Islands.
Article from thebalisun.com