Bali expects tourist surge for Christmas and New Year

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Christmas and New Year make a big deal on Bali. A wild amount of both tourists and locals visit the ‘Island of the Gods’.

In December last year, more than one million tourists visited Bali. Even more may visit this year, as Aussies flock to the island ahead of Christmas and New Year.

The Indonesian government said on Monday that it was expecting a more than 100 per cent increase in the number of people travelling nationwide during festive days.

Bali topped the most popular destination for end-of-year travel plans among Aussies.

Denpasar in Indonesia which houses I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, the main airport in Bali — came first.

Bangkok and Singapore, Phuket, Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur follow it, also making an appearance.

According to an online travel agent, flights to Bali have increased 29 per cent since 2022.

The figures compare travel periods from December 18, 2022 and January 8, 2023 to December 18, 2023 and January 8, 2024.

In May alone, almost 110,000 Australian tourists landed at Denpasar.

That figure increased to 120,000 in August, making Aussies the most frequent international visitors to the island.

And it’s not just overseas travellers moving around the islands over the festive period. A huge number of locals will also be hopping from island to island.

According to the country’s Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi, around 107 million people or 39.83 per cent of the total national population will travel across cities, provinces or islands this Christmas holiday.

So, the increase is very significant, above 100 per cent, Mr Sumadi said in a statement, according to local reports.

Most of them are likely to travel to tourist sites for vacations. The rest is for exodus, or going to their hometowns, which also have tourist destinations, to celebrate Christmas.

He added that the most popular provinces during the festive season include East Java, Central Java, West Java, North Sumatra and Yogyakarta.

Given the huge amount of movements expected between tourists and locals, the government was preparing measures to minimise traffic congestion. This is in co-ordination with the local government and traffic police. Mr Sumadi said this.

Meanwhile, tourism leaders from hotspots such as Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, Canggu and Ubud in Bali have continued to raise concerns over traffic congestion.

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