High Fares and Bad World Economy May Cause Big Drop in European and American Travelers to Bali in 2009

BeritaBali.com quotes the Chairman of the Bali branch of the Indonesian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (ASITA) as projecting a drop of between 30-40% in American and European visitors to Bali in 2009. The growing financial crisis in Europe and the U.S.A. is seen by ASITA as certain to cause visitors from these markets to cancel or delay a holiday abroad.

In 2008, according to ASITA, an average of 4,000-5,000 American and 35,000-40,000 European tourists came to Bali each month.

The Chairman of the Bali Chapter of ASITA, Al Purwa, told BeritaBali.com that in addition to the current financial crisis, the high cost of transportation was also playing a major role in the expected downturn in American and European tourists to the island. "The biggest drops will come from Europe, America and Canada because the airfares are so expensive," explained Purwa.

Citing the effect of the global economic crisis, the Bali Tourism Authority recently reduced its target for foreign tourists in 2009 from an initial 2.1 million to a more realistic 1.8 million. Total foreign tourist visitors to Bali in 2008 hit a record 1,968,892.