The Badung Regency Tourism Office recently announced that more than 10 % increase has been registered in the number of tourists arriving at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport in 2018, which is far exceeding the target for the year. The number of arrivals at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport in 2018 reportedly reached 6,511,610 people, narrowly beating the target of 6,500,000, which was an increase of over 10% on 2017's numbers.
Australia was the largest single contributing country to Bali's tourism industry in December, followed by China, India, Malaysia and Singapore. Singaporean visitors alone recorded a 97.36% increase on November 2018's figures. The main differences between December and November are the rise of Malaysia and Singapore. In November Japan and America took fourth and fifth spots.
Bali’s targets for 2019 raise the bar even higher. Set at 6,800,000, speculations are rife as to whether Bali will be able to reach the projected numbers to be able to cope as well. Because it's one thing to get people to visit, and quite another to ensure their experience lives up to expectations and perceptions. There are no doubts visitor arrivals will increase with so many airlines offering direct flights to Bali. The latest is Garuda Indonesia airline which just launched its first direct flights from London to Bali.
Meanwhile, efforts are already in place to help meet the 2019 targets including national and international promotions, increasing the capacity and professionalism of tourism human resources, utilizing digital applications for management and logistics, developing public service campaigns about cleanliness, security, upgrading digital capabilities with free WiFi, for example, and improving public services at airports and other strategic places. Besides, the local government is also looking at the development of 'smart city' destinations, village tourism, digital tourism, cultural tourism and nomadic tourism.
