Indian Tourists Visiting Bali Increase By 44.26 Percent

Denpasar (Antara Bali) - The number of Indian tourists traveling to Bali in January-Juli 2017 has increased 44.26 percent compared to the same period in previous year.

The additional 155,260 tourists came by boarding direct flights from India to Ngurah Rai International Airport or sailing on cruise ships.

"Tourists from India ranked third after China and Australia in the top ten countries visiting Bali," head of Bali Provincial Central Statistics Agency Adi Nugroho said in Denpasar on Monday.

India's ranking jumped in the top three after its last year's sixth position and surpassed the position of Japan, United Kingdom and France.

India is able to contribute 4.56 percent of total foreign tourists to Bali with as many as 3.4 million people coming during Januari-Juli, increased from 2.75 million tourists during the same period in 2016.

The increasing number of tourist arrivals in Bali is influenced by similar Hindus culture that grows and thrives both in India and Bali.

The improving cooperation between Indonesian and Indian governments is another factor that boost number of Indian tourists coming to the archipelago.

Considering high interest of Indian tourists to Bali encourages low-cost airline AirAsia to open a new route of Denpasar-Kolkata in October 2017.

The opening of the new route, in addition to a route to Mumbai opened in last May, is expected to drive the tourism industry and to the economy of Bali, said AirAsia Indonesia Commercial director Rifai Taberi.

Reflecting on the Denpasar-Mumbai flight, Taberi said the average passenger load rate reached above 80 percent, a significant market response for the new route. (WDY)