REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DENPASAR -- The Indonesian Tourism Industry Association's (GIPI's) Bali chapter has forecast an increase of up to 12 percent in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Bali during the Lunar New Year, locally known as Imlek.

"During the long Imlek holidays, the number of Chinese tourists always surges at an average of 12 percent," GIPI's Bali chapter Chairman Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya stated here, Thursday.

Due to the influx of Chinese tourists, the occupancy rate of the island's hotels is also expected to increase during the current, supposedly lean season.

However, Ngurah stated that Chinese tourists usually do not stay long in Bali.

A Chinese tourist, on an average, spends less than US$100 per day and stays for up to two or three days on Bali Island.

"Chinese tourists are still categorized under mass tourism and not yet under medium or high tourism," he noted.

China is a potential market for Indonesia. On an average, more than 100 million Chinese travel overseas every year.

Seven international airways serving 34 international routes have increased their flight frequency during the Imlek holidays.

Foreign airlines offering flights from China to Indonesia are Hong Kong Airlines, Cathay Pacific, China Eastern, and China Southern. Chartered flights, with a total capacity of 8,364 seats, are being operated by Xianmen Airlines and Execujet.

Almost one million Chinese tourists visited Indonesia last year, and for this year, Indonesia has set a target to double the number of Chinese visitors.

China is currently the fourth-largest source of tourism for Indonesia by contributing a total of 883,725 Chinese tourists between January and November 2014. The largest source of tourism for Indonesia is Singapore (1.32 million), followed by Malaysia (1.12 million), and Australia (996,032).

"If our expectation in 2014 was to receive one million Chinese tourists, we are optimistic that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Indonesia will reach two million by the end of 2015," Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya recently stated.

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