Badung – The number of foreign tourists entering Bali via I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport from January to July 2023 has reached 2.9 million individuals. Sugito, the Head of Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, claims that the upward trend of foreign tourists visiting the Island of Gods continues to rise.
As reported by detik.com, Sugito explained that the top five countries contributing to the influx of foreign tourists to Bali are Australia with 652,461 visitors, India with 230,063, China with 131,458, and the United States with 129,137. “Furthermore, the United Kingdom contributed 126,822 individuals,” he stated during a press release on Sunday, August 13, 2023.
According to Sugito, the arrival of foreign travelers during the January-July 2023 period is still lower compared to the same period in 2019. However, the number of foreign tourists in the past seven months surpasses the figures from the corresponding period last year.
Sugito remains optimistic that the target of 4.6 million foreign tourists set by the Provincial Government of Bali for this year can be achieved. “I believe it can be fulfilled, especially as the global situation is gradually improving after the COVID-19 pandemic,” he expressed.
Sugito, who is also the Director General of Immigration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, added that efforts are being made to boost the recovery of the tourism sector. One such effort includes launching the online application for Visas and Visas on Arrival (VOA) through the website molina.imigrasi.go.id. “We have also expanded the list of countries eligible for VOA, with 93 countries currently listed,” he revealed.