Mixed Response As Chinese Arrivals Grow For Bali

The Chinese market is forecasted to overtake the traditionally larger Australian segment in Bali, Indonesia in 2017.  This comes following a ban on zero-dollar junkets from Mainland China to Thailand, which has redirected tourists to neighbouring holiday destinations such as Bali.  Bali’s 23% growth in international tourism to almost 5 million visitors throughout 2016 was fueled by an increase in visitors from China. Despite an increase in arrival numbers, these visitors are spending less time and money in Bali, impacting further the already damaged luxury sector, and putting Bali’s fragile infrastructure under greater strain.

The Bank of Indonesia last year conducted a survey which revealed that the typical Chinese tourist to Bali spends a mere one quarter of that spent by their European and Australian counterparts.  This is reducing the economic benefits of the increase in arrivals. The average tourist stay has also dropped from 3.2 days to 3.11 days.  As a consequence, the luxury hotel segment in Bali has continued to take a hit, forcing hotels to rethink their pricing strategy. The increase in visitors has the potential to damage the long-term interests of Bali without appropriate adaptation measures, given Bali’s infrastructure (notably roads, sewage and garbage collection) is already under pressure.

It is as yet unclear how Indonesia plans to mitigate these concerns in the coming years, especially given the Indonesian government is expecting to welcome 2.1 million tourists from China and has signed an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping to attract 10 million Chinese tourists in the future, despite a lower promotional budget and recently cancelled sales missions and activities in China.

COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute provides expert insights into the worldwide developments of China’s outbound tourism market. As Chinese outbound tourists are travelling to a large range of destinations, our publications cover a number of different regions. Important Chinese visitor activities are analysed, and detailed insights are presented.

With COTRI’s insights you can create a successful business strategy with in-depth market insights, comprehensive qualitative analyses, and future prospects. The recently published Spring 2016 Edition of the COTRI Market Report features in-depth analysis of the developing trends in Chinese outbound tourism, supported by a wealth of qualitative and quantitative statistical research.

Sources: The Phuket News, Travel Trends, The Jakarta Post, The Australian.

Photo: Flickr