Bali travel stats: Take another look

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that things are slow in Bali. The October 1st bombings really hammered new arrivals and the last month and a half have been quiet. When I want to check the tourism numbers I go to Bali Discovery, who have their finger on the pulse when it comes to the hard facts. Pure arrival figures don’t tell the whole story, and you can get a better idea of what is happening to the economy by taking a closer look.

Prices of long term rentals, villa rentals and land are continuing to climb. Ask any expat in Bali. There is no shortage of people moving to Bali and setting up shop. Long term outlook is positive. Of course many of the people moving here are not directly involved in tourism, maybe they are buying handicrafts or furniture and selling it on eBay. In their case terrorism won’t affect their economy that much.

The way the world is going right now, you can get trouble anywhere. Riots in Paris, riots in Sydney, bombs in London, Delhi, Thailand, NYC, Spain, Jordan etc. Unfortunately we have a world problem, not just a Bali problem.

Bali will be around for many years and steering clear of high profile places at night will make your chances of any problems virtually nil.