Australian tourists have dominated tourists all around the world in visiting Bali in the past few years. Australians were considered as the top tourists to visit Bali every year because of the large number. However as China seems to take over the world slowly in every aspect, Bali seems no exception either. Bali observed a 92% spike in chinese tourists number in January 2017 compared to the same time last year. The numbers went from 76,919 visiting in January 2016 to 147,928 visiting January 2017.

Chinese tourists visiting Bali in January 2017 were 32% of the total tourists visiting the Island. So now Australia ranks on the 2nd position while India has gradually moved to the 3rd spot.

“This is the first time China has reached the top of the list of the ten countries supplying the most tourists to Bali, after overtaking Australia, which had always been perched on top,” Nugroho said.

The main reason behind this spike in the numbers from China is the recent addition of a direct flight to Bali from China along with seamless efforts of Indonesian Tourism Department. China was also added to the countries to be issues visa free entry last year.