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INDONESIA’S Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno confirmed that two airlines from India, namely Vistara and Indigo Airlines, will open direct flights from India to Bali. The presence of this direct flight is expected to increase visits by foreign tourists from India to Bali.
“I am targeting that with direct flights (from India to Bali), (the number of foreign tourists visiting Bali) will increase by 20 to 25% from the figure previously mentioned by the Head of the Bali Tourism Office in 2024,” said Sandiaga in the Weekly Press Briefing at the Sapta Building Pesona, Central Jakarta, Monday (10/23), 2023.
On the same occasion, Head of the Bali Tourism Service, Tjok Bagus Pemayun, said that the number of visits by foreign tourists from India to Bali has currently reached 288,000 visits. Previously, this figure was the number of foreign tourists from India to Bali until August 2023.
“India is indeed our second largest market share after Australia, with a total of 288,000 visits. With direct flights from India to Bali, we have arranged previous travel patterns for Indian tourists when visiting Bali.
Prevent overtourism in Bali
Apart from the potential for increased tourist visits thanks to direct flights from India to Bali, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy also invited regional governments to focus on quality and sustainable tourism to avoid overtourism.
“Overtourism occurs when tourism activities at a certain time and in a certain location exceed the threshold of physical, ecological, social, economic, psychological, and political capacity. We do not want Bali to end up having to face the negative impacts of overtourism. “The Acting Governor of Bali (Sang Made Mahendra Jaya) has also conveyed to me that we will focus on infrastructure development,” said Sandiaga.
The infrastructure development in question includes transportation infrastructure, connectivity, human resources and tourist villages. [sources/photo special]
