Bali: World’s Best Island

For many years, Bali consistently ranked as the world’s best island in the prestigious poll, slipping momentarily in the 2008 polling to the number two slot. However, the 2009 Travel + Leisure survey has returned Bali to the coveted #1 spot, followed by Galapagos, which displaced Bali in the 2008 rankings.

Source: www.balidiscovery.com

Foreign tourist arrival to Bali in April 2009 totaled 179,879 representing the best April on record for Bali tourism and 21.94% improvement over April 2008 (147,515).

View cumulatively, the first four months of 2009 saw 645,061 foreign tourists come to Bali, an increase of 8.15% when compared to the same period last year (596,469).

As predicted by balidiscovery.com, April 2009 also saw the historical unseating of Japan by Australia from its top-ranking as the largest source market for Bali. Through the end of the first four months of 2009 Australian arrivals totaled 102,179 – increasing 30.08% as compared to the same period in 2008. Meanwhile, reflecting their troubled national economy, Japanese visitors decreased 7.45% for the first 4 months of 2009.

Similarly, South Korea, which is traditionally Bali #3 source market, declined to a #5 ranking as that nation’s economy faltered and arrivals dipped 5.62% over the first four months of 2009. Taiwan which has long been Bali’s #4 market, is now relegated to the #7 position.

The Winners
Markets clocking improvements for the period January-April were: Australia (+30.08%), People’s Republic of China (+54.03), Malaysia (+37.70%). Russia (+4.75%), The Netherlands (+0.42%) and France (+25.32%).

The Losers
The markets in decline for Bali over the first four months of 2009 were; Japan (-7.45%), Taiwan (-23.24%), South Korea (-5.62%), U.S.A. (-1.80%), Germany (-11.66%) and the United Kingdom (-6.50%).

Source BaliDiscovery.com

Pic from Ngurah Rai International Airport.