REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DENPASAR -- Bali Island was expected to be flooded with foreign tourists after terrorist acts in Paris, France, some time ago. Chairman of Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA) Bali, Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati a.k.a Cok Ace, said the expectation was based on experience after tragedy of bomb in Bangkok, Thailand.
"When there was a tragedy in Thailand, the arrival of foreign tourists to Bali suddenly increased because they divert their vacation destination from Thailand to Bali," said Cok Ace in Denpasar, Thursday (19/11).
However, Cok Ace did not expect to earn more benefits from tragedy occurred in other countries. Bali, he added, must continue to improve quality of tourism destinations in terms of services to visitors.
"Paris incident also reminded Bali to improve security sector. Bali was also known to be target of bombings in 2012," he continued.
From January to September 2015, the cumulative foreign tourists to Bali reached 2,990,813 people. The foreign tourists were mostly from Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, and the UK with a percentage of 24.33 percent, 18.26 percent, 5.69 percent, 4.62 percent, and 4. 1 percent.
While, foreign tourists from France were in the seventh position. The number of French tourists to Bali reached 99,901 people or 3.34 percent of the total foreign tourists visits in Bali.