Whilst February allowed Bali to host over 18, 371 Chinese tourists, tourism in March has fallen 60.7 percent to 7,205 Chinese tourists. The first quarter of 2008 witnessed 36, 004 Chinese tourists flying directly to Bali, according to Jam Jam Zamachsyari, the head of the distributions statistics section at the Bali provincial statistics office.

Tourists from China are essential to Balinese tourism, as China ranked fourth in terms of foreign tourist arrivals in Bali for the first quarter of 2008.

With Japan as the apparent leader, delivering 94 456 tourists to the shores of Bali, Australia and Taiwan trailed with 57, 647 and 36, 933 tourists respectively.

Despite the reduction in Chinese patronage, the overall number of foreign tourists visiting Bali this quarter escalated 28.7 percent, from 346, 816 to 447, 566 visitors.

The improvement and multiplication of services connecting China to Indonesia ought to have a positive impact on the Chinese tourist numbers, Antara News reports.

“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 Indonesian flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia, has expressed optimism regarding the future of Bali, proposing to achieve 22, 000 passengers between Beijing and Jakarta this year.

No doubt Garuda has taken into consideration the difficulty of competing with foreign airlines.

The current schedule allows Garuda to fly from Jakarta to Beijing three times a week.

The Ambassador of Indonesia to China mentioned that approximately 300, 000 Chinese tourists are expected to visit Indonesia in 2008.

News by e-Travel Blackboard – etravelblackboardasia.com