Chinese flying back to Bali. Credit: www.staralliance.com.
THE Chinese government lifted the travel ban to Bali for Chinese tourists yesterday.
Deputy Assistant of Asia Pacific Market Development of the Tourism Ministry, Vinsensius Jemadu, explained that the travel ban was at first put in place until January 4, 2018, but the decree was revised.
“The ban is not valid anymore. Everyone can fly to Bali now,” he said to jpnn.com.
The Chinese government issued a travel warning to their citizens that wanted to travel to Bali related to Mount Agung activity in late November. The travel warning was accompanied by a ban on Chinese flights to Bali, which caused a significant drop in Chinese tourist arrivals to the island.
Until that point Chinese tourist numbers were the highest in Bali with some 1,178,888 visitors arriving in the period from January until September this year. This figure greatly outnumbered Australian tourists who were second on the list with 847,966 tourists. (Stats from the Bali Govt. Tourism Office)
Normally, there are 30 regular and chartered flights daily from China to Bali. Among them are Air China, China Southern, Eva Air, Xiamen Airlines and China Eastern.
