Bali tourist arrivals seen to gather pace in second half

Arrivals in Indonesia's Bali resort island should gather pace in the second half of the year after taking a hit from terror bomb attacks last year, an industry consultancy firm said today.

"The outlook for Bali's tourism and hotel industry remains positive," Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels said in a report issued in Singapore.

"Bali as Indonesia's premier resort destination will continue to be a popular leisure destination. We believe the pick up in room demand will gather pace from mid-2006 when Bali enters its peak season," the report said.

Other factors that could boost tourist arrivals include increased security on the island's facilities and continued efforts by Indonesian authorities to fight terrorism, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels said.

The Indonesian government has also disbursed about $9.21 million to help Bali's tourism industry to recover and source new markets such as mainland China.

"We expect to see significant 'pent-up demand' for Bali once the travel advisories issued by key feeder markets such as Australia and Japan are totally revoked," it said.

Moreover, a move by the Indonesian government to move national holidays to Fridays and Mondays should boost domestic travel, the consultancy added.

Tourist arrivals to Indonesia in the first half of 2006 dropped 7.54 per cent year-on-year to 1.89 million, with the fall felt most strongly in Bali, according to official data from Jakarta.

Foreign tourists arriving through Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport dropped 19.11 per cent to 584,263 compared to the same period in 2005, figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed.

A triple suicide bombing on the island in October 2005 drastically hit the tourism industry, the resort island's main economic engine. The attacks by Islamic extremists killed 20 bystanders, including four Australians.

Bali was still recovering from nightclub blasts in 2002 that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

"While the extent of the physical damage caused by the latest bombings was less extensive, the impact on international arrivals was similar to that of the 2002 bombings," it said.

Japan and Australia remained Bali's two largest foreign source markets in 2005, with market shares of 22.4 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively. Arrivals from Europe contributed 26.5 per cent.

Back   24.08.2006.

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