The Ngurah Rai Immigration Office reported today that 2,176,004 foreigners entered Bali via the airport throughout 2022 – as good an indication as any that the Island of Gods is waking up from its pandemic slumber, albeit not at 100 percent yet.
The number of international arrivals in 2022 was noted to be 60,000 times higher than the year before, when only 34 foreigners were recorded visiting Bali.
“The increase in numbers is in line with the immigration policies that were introduced by the government in a bid to recover the nation’s economy by supporting the tourism sector,” Ngurah Rai Immigration Head, Sugito, said today as quoted by Antara news agency.
Australians topped the arrivals list with 626,783 people visiting Bali, followed by India with 184,702 and Singapore with 137,470 people. The UK and the US placed fourth and fifth with 130,312 people and 111,495 arrivals, respectively.
The 2022 number was still below the 6,206,884 international tourists arrivals in 2019, AKA before COVID-19 happened.
Still, Sugito said that the government is optimistic that the number of tourist arrivals in Bali will continue to grow in 2023.
