As I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport releases the latest travel data for August, it is becoming clear that the desire for island holidays is ready to increase again as we approach the end of the year.
Although there was a small decline in international arrivals compared to July, overall trends indicate Bali is making steady progress towards exceeding its 2023 tourism targets.
July marks the peak of the high season for tourists in Bali. Historically, August saw a decline in arrivals. However, in 2023, the decline in international arrivals from July to August was only 6%, much lower than in previous years.
Bali Airport recorded more than 2 million passenger movements throughout August 2023. Total passenger movements for the year to date were 13,910,000 when added to the cumulative data. Heryudhitiawan explained that 2,143,643 people traveled through the airport in August. Even if this performance saw a 6% decline in August compared to previous months, it was still one of the highest monthly figures in 2023, with an average of around 65,000 passengers per day.
It is interesting to see statistics about travelers from other countries. According to these statistics 56% of all passengers arriving and departing Ngurah Rai Airport in August were from other countries. There were 584,138 departures and 548,036 arrivals.
891,080 domestic travelers passed through Bali airport, both on arrival and departure.
Heryudhitiawan said: “In August, the domestic destinations with the highest passenger traffic were still dominated by the Jakarta route, which reached 55% of the total passengers on domestic routes, or 489,860 passengers.”
With 22% of all international passengers arriving via Singapore, this was the busiest flight route to Bali in terms of international travel demand in August.
13% of all overseas arrivals came from Kuala Lumpur, with Melbourne in second place with 8%.
“By 2023, we expect to serve 20.3 million passengers. With the recovery of the tourism sector on the island of Bali and the potential for additional new flight routes such as I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport in the future, we are optimistic that this [target] this figure can be reached this year,” Heryudhitiawan concluded.
Bali tourism leaders earlier this year called for more international air services to be made available to visitors from China and India.
