Bali Tourism Numbers Are THIS CLOSE to Pre-Pandemic Levels

We mentioned in one of our last blogs that there has never been a better time to invest in Bali, and a lot of that confidence rested on the island’s rapid bounce back from the pandemic and the promising incoming tourist figures.

On an almost monthly basis, we are seeing reports about Bali smashing the forecasts and targets for tourist arrivals for 2023. For a different comparison, we wanted to look at how the island is fairing versus 2019, when the island reached record numbers – welcoming over 6.2 million international tourists and 10.5 million domestic tourists.

Bali Tourism Data – The island is closing in on the record numbers it reached in 2019

The Bali Tourism Office released the latest arrival statistics, through July 2023. We compared these numbers to 2019, and here is what we found:

– Australian arrivals in 2023 (724,326) are outpacing those of 2019 (660,010).
– Ranking #2, India also has more arrivals in 2023 than 2019, (255,006 vs 217,621).
– Other strong performers are the SE Asia counterparts that all saw double-digit increases in arrivals to Bali: South Korea (108,670 arrivals, up 48,11%), Malaysia (18,909 arrivals, up 20%), Singapore (48,801 arrivals, up 48%) and Vietnam (27,408 arrivals, up 137%).
– Through July, there were 2.8million foreign arrivals, which is only 552,000 behind 2019.
– The Chinese market has been the most notable absence, down from 729,196 to just 141,292). This 80% drop amounts to 587,904 tourists.
– China has fallen from the #1 spot, but monthly arrivals are quickly increasing. It still remains in the top 5, and could be back in the top 3 before the end of the year.

Table: International Tourist Arrivals to Bali by Month Through July 2023 – Top 20 Countries, compared to 2019

NO	NATIONALITY	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUNE	JULY	TOTAL	%	JAN – JULY 2019	Difference	Change	Rank in 2019
1	Australia	91,254	79,100	89,783	102,737	106,641	121,922	132,939	724,376	25.01	669,010	55,366	8.28%	2
2	India	21,700	28,011	28,167	35,854	48,300	52,131	40,843	255,006	8.80	217,621	37,385	17.18%	3
3	USA	13,387	14,644	20,360	22,247	23,512	25,821	26,859	146,830	5.07	154,613	(7,783)	-5.03%	5
4	United Kingdom	13,789	14,234	20,775	24,018	23,272	22,026	26,916	145,030	5.01	155,580	(10,550)	-6.78%	4
5	China	10,066	7,895	12,658	24,783	23,530	25,689	36,671	141,292	4.88	729,196	(587,904)	-80.62%	1
6	Singapore	16,586	12,398	21,003	13,773	18,490	30,132	16,306	128,688	4.44	86,887	41,801	48.11%	11
7	South Korea	17,598	15,655	13,536	13,103	16,546	17,742	25,537	119,717	4.13	108,670	11,047	10.17%	7
8	Malaysia	14,428	17,040	16,286	15,476	17,817	17,594	15,160	113,801	3.93	94,892	18,909	19.93%	10
9	France	7,787	9,464	10,583	16,758	19,679	15,732	28,783	108,786	3.76	102,322	6,464	6.32%	8
10	Germany	8,703	10,348	14,968	15,870	19,947	15,834	18,968	104,638	3.61	99,869	4,769	4.78%	9
11	Russia	22,104	17,338	14,186	10,436	9,046	8,674	9,309	91,093	3.14	79,547	11,546	14.51%	12
12	Netherlands	7,885	7,023	7,600	10,239	9,960	8,363	17,699	68,769	2.37	61,676	7,093	11.50%	15
13	New Zealand	4,291	4,829	5,825	8,095	9,637	11,081	13,423	57,181	1.97	68,206	(11,025)	-16.16%	13
14	Philippines	6,793	7,351	7,491	7,115	6,987	8,319	9,461	53,517	1.85	60,819	(7,302)	-12.01%	16
15	Japan	4,519	6,358	7,340	6,781	6,740	7,277	10,282	49,297	1.70	133,063	(83,766)	-62.95%	6
16	Vietnam	6,119	6,013	6,594	6,946	5,478	7,721	8,481	47,352	1.63	19,944	27,408	137.42%	23
17	Taiwan	6,437	4,165	4,526	5,672	6,233	9,164	8,444	44,641	1.54	62,607	(17,966)	-28.70%	14
18	Canada	4,792	5,230	5,666	5,464	5,942	4,348	4,914	36,356	1.26	42,975	(6,619)	-15.40%	17
19	Spain	2,571	2,726	3,544	4,181	4,441	5,529	7,406	30,398	1.05	25,185	5,213	20.70%	19
20	Italy	2,649	2,699	3,014	3,891	4,022	5,002	8,129	29,406	1.02	22,207	7,199	32.42%	21

Source: Bali Government Tourism Office

“All of this data speaks incredible volumes about the island’s resiliency and never-ending allure for tourists around the world,” says GPFG CEO Chad Egan. “By the time many of our new developments open by next year or the year after, we could be seeing record tourist arrivals again, beating the previous records we saw in 2019.“

Bali domestic tourism numbers returned strong last year, and keep growing this year.

We also wanted to share the data on Bali’s domestic tourism numbers because they typically outpace international arrivals by 2:1. During the pandemic, domestic tourists came to the island to escape lockdowns in Jakarta and around Indonesia.

Last year, when all travel restrictions were lifted, there were over 8 million domestic arrivals to the island. Bali could also see domestic tourism arrivals close to, or better than 2019 this year.

Table 2: Bali Domestic Arrivals 2018 – 2023

Month	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
January	743,456	793,527	879,702	282,248	527,447	720,164
February	655,719	692,113	721,105	240,608	389,690	629,282
March	762,622	787,616	567,452	305,579	547,726	665,751
April	777,287	795,997	175,120	330,593	500,740	900,880
May	682,521	656,082	101,948	363,959	960,692	943,713
June	1,156,151	1,287,877	137,395	498,852	753,907	883,793
July	906,347	935,930	229,112	166,718	784,205	898,260
August	770,364	925,360	355,732	202,187	659,567
September	774,144	812,003	283,349	298,950	622,068
October	762,124	853,007	337,304	468,826	718,066
November	806,397	852,626	425,097	513,482	657,949
December	960,859	1,152,901	382,841	629,590	930,917
TOTAL	9,757,991	10,545,03	4,596,157	4,301,592	8,052,974	5,641,843

Domestic Arrivals through July 2019					5,949,142
Domestic Arrivals through July 2023					5,641,843

Source: Bali Government Tourism Office

Bali Hotel Occupancy statistics are giving investors what they want to hear

We also looked at the hotel occupancy figures across the island, and July 2023 reported hotel occupancy just slightly better than July 2019.

“Hotel occupancy is a vital statistic for our investors, wanting assurance about the forecasted ROI for the next 5 to 10 years. We really are just a year out of the pandemic, and it’s incredible to see that hotels are enjoying occupancy close to, or in July’s case, even better than 2019,” says Chad.

Table 3: Bali Hotel Occupancy Levels 2019-2023

Month	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
January	53.27%	59.29%	11.15%	20.71%	46.16%
February	56.48%	45.98%	8.99%	14.86%	41.22%
March	55.43%	25.41%	10.24%	21.90%	40.01%
April	60.33%	3.22%	10.09%	18.98%	44.31%
May	51.56%	2.07%	10.35%	37.35%	47.30%
June	60.37%	2.07%	16.68%	38.77%	59.59%
July	61.71%	2.57%	5.23%	37.52%	63.60%
August	67.10%	3.68%	4.77%	38.37%
September	63.22%	5.28%	9.46%	46.45%
October	63.30%	9.53%	17.73%	46.28%
November	59.46%	9.32%	20.67%	48.91%
December	62.55%	19.00%	30.67%	53.75%

Average	59.57%	15.62%	13.00%	35.32%	48.88%

Source: Bali Government Tourism Office

Bali property investment options with GPFG

For more information on how you can invest in Bali, ask our team about our best options for your budget and investment goals. There has never been a better time to invest in Bali! We have options through our Premium Partners for modern loft apartments, villas, hotel rooms, as well as opportunities for fractional investment.