TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The number of Chinese tourists visiting Bali in 2017 is predicted to fall below target. The projection is based on the significant number of Chinese airlines that suspended their direct flights to Bali until the end of December.
Chandra Salim of the Chinese Committee for the Indonesian Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (Asita) said that about 30 regular and chartered direct flights from China cities to Bali are suspended following a travel ban issued by the Chinese Government until January next year, in relevance to the volcanic activity of Mount Agung.
Read: Mount Agung Erupts 4 Airliners Cancel Flight to and from Bali
The Chinese tourists who initially planned to visit Bali are likely to divert their travels to Thailand and Malaysia.
"There are routes from Hong Kong, Taiwan, or China. But with transits in Jakarta. There are no direct flights [to Bali]," he said in Denpasar, Tuesday, December 12.
Salim said that because of the suspension, there will be no direct visit from China to Bali until the end of 2017.
China is a country with the highest number of visits to the island. From January to October, 1.3 million people visited Bali from China, accounting for 26 percent the entire foreign visits to the island in said period.
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