Chinese tourists to Bali down 60 percent in March 2008
May 6th, 2008
Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - The number of Chinese tourists visiting the resort island of Bali in March 2008 fell 60.7 percent to 7,205 from 18,371 in the previous month, a spokesman said.
Cumulatively, 36,004 Chinese tourists flew directly from their country to Bali in the first quarter of 2008, the head of the distribution statistics section at the Bali provincial statistics office, Jam Jam Zamachsyari, said here on Monday.
China ranked fourth in terms of foreign tourist arrivals in Bali in the January-March 2008 period.
Japan took a commanding lead with 94,456 tourists, followed by Australia (57,647) and Taiwan (36,933).
Overall, the number of foreign tourists flying directly from their country to Bali in the first quarter of 2008 rose 28.7 percent to 447,566 from 347,816 in the same period last year, he said.
The number of Chinese tourists visiting Bali is expected to increase this year thanks to the rising number of flights from China to Indonesia including Bali.
“I believe the number of Chinese tourists visiting Bali will continue to increase due to the increasing number of flights from China to Jakarta and Denpasar,” tour operator Tjok Gde Agung said.
The general manager of Garuda Indonesia`s operations in Beijing, Pikri Ilham K, said at the weekend the national flag carrier was optimistic it could achieve its target of carrying 22,000 passengers from Beijing to Jakarta this year although it must compete with foreign airlines.
Garuda currently flies from Jakarta to Beijing three times a week.
Indonesian Ambassador to China Sudrajat said earlier around 300,000 Chinese tourists were expected to visit Indonesia this year.
(*)
Source: ANTARA News
Entry Filed under: Bali Tourism News
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed