More Japanese Tourists Visiting Bali

Denpasar (Antara Bali) - The number of Japanese holiday makers visiting the tourist island of Bali has increased sharply with the government's plan to offer visa free facility for visitors from a number of countries including Japan and the availability of direct flights between Japan and the island.    

"The number of holiday makers from Japan surged 25 percent early 2015  after shrinking trend earlier," a tourist guide for Japanese speaking visitors  Made Sutarka said here on Friday .    

Japanese holiday makers began to come in groups to Bali this year, Sutarka said.

Based on data from the Bali Tourism Office , in January  this year, there were 17,946 Japanese flying to Bali directly from Japan as against only 14,256 in the same month a year earlier. The number was the third largest after visitors from Australia  and China  or 5.95 percent of the total number of foreign visitors to Bali that totaled 301,618   to Bali in January, 2015.    

The number of Japanese visitors from Japan has declined after the devastating tsunami  in 2011.    

The plan to offer visa free visit for tourists from a number of friendly countries including Japan has contributed greatly to the rise in the number of visitors from Japan,  Sutarka said.  "Hopefully the visa free facility  would attract more visitors  to Bali," he said. (WDY)