“I have predicted that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Bali will increase after the government provides them with a visa-free facility and the opening of smooth direct flights to China,” Tourism observer Dewa Nyoman said here on Sunday.

Nyoman said this condition had been observed since in the past several months. Moreover, the economic conditions in Australia are not conducive of late, Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) quoted Antara news as reporting.

In the meantime, he said, the Chinese economy is relatively encouraging now.

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Indonesian flag carrier Garuda has also expended its flight routes linking Denpasar with Shanghai after it has previously opened a flight route that connected Denpasar with Beijing and Guangzhu in 2015.

It seems that Garuda Indonesia is focusing on its flight expansion in China as the countrys foreign tourists which conduct overseas trips are large reaching some 100 million.

He said that based on the records of Balis Tourism Service, the number of Chinese tourists arriving in Bali increased by 30 percent in the first months of 2016, topping the foreign tourist arrivals list.

In the January-February period, a total of 189,594 Chinese tourists arrived in Bali, up from 145,747 in the same period in 2015.

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In January – February 2015, the number of Chinese visitors in Indonesia was still recorded in the second position.

The Australian tourists holidaying on the island of Bali in the January – February period this year declined by 0.96 percent to 154,892 people. In the same period in 2015, the number of Australian visitors were recorded at 156,395.

Japanese tourists occupied the third place with 39,371 visitors recorded last January and February, down 2.89 percent from 40,544 in the same period last year.

Duwa Putra expressed convince that this year the number of Chinese tourists will continue to increase, replacing the domination the Australian tourists. After all, the volume of flights from Australia is increasingly limited.

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Besides, Garuda also services passengers with its routes covering Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai via Denpasar and Jakarta.

The numerous flights facilitate the desires of young Chinese who want to spend their honeymoon in Bali, he said.   (T/R07/R01)