Tourists are keen to come back to Bali as proved by a survey from the Indonesian Central Bank (Bank Indonesia).
DENPASAR – The majority of foreign tourists are keen to return to Bali according to a survey released by Bank Indonesia (BI)-Central office for the provinces of Bali and Nusa Tenggara (Lesser Sunda Islands). Conducted last May at Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport, the questionnaire surveyed 500 travellers both domestic and international. Results were published last week in the Bali Daily newspaper.
Dwi Pranoto, head of BI office, told Bali Daily that 81.53 % of the participating respondents said they were happy spending their leisure time on the island and would like to return during their next holiday season. “Bali needs to precisely understand the characteristic of each particular tourist group in order to give them its best services,” Pranoto said.
The survey highlights that 93.7 % of respondents had come to Bali on vacation. Beach activities were the first motivation to visit for approximately 23 % of them, followed by shopping for 15 % while only 12 % showed a keen interest for culture including museums.
The survey found that 54.22 % of tourists worked as professionals or executives. Around 60 % of the respondents were first-time visitors.
“The survey may provide insightful data and information for the provincial administrations, tourism stakeholders and related parties to really create an effective and attractive tourism development plan,” said Pranoto.
During the first half of 2012, the total number of tourist arrivals to Bali reached approximately 1.4 million people, dominated by travellers from Australia and China. This represents an increase in tourist arrivals of 7.73 % over the same period last year. Based on data from Bali Tourism Office, the province recorded 2.76 million foreign arrivals in 2011. With an estimated average annual growth of 6.5 %, the island is expecting to welcome around 4.86 million foreign visitors by 2020 with the bulk of tourists coming from Asia (3.64 million), the rest being long-haul visitors (estimated at 1.22 million).
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
