Chinese tourists are back in Bali, and Indonesia tourism chiefs want more. A lot more.
So much so, that after the first direct flight from China since the start of the pandemic, Indonesia’s minister for tourism and creative economy, Sandiaga Uno, appealed to Chinese airlines to schedule more flights to the island.
Indonesia has set a target of more than 250,000 tourists from China this year, well below pre-pandemic numbers.
In 2019, about 2.07 million Chinese tourists visited Indonesia, according to official statistics.
Last Sunday’s charter flight carrying 210 Chinese tourists landed a in Bali from China's southern city of Shenzhen.