Bali Governor Says Foreign Arrivals Are Holding Steady at 19,000 to 24,000 a Day

Has the fuel crisis kept visitors away from Bali? The governor says no. Speaking on October 28, Wayan Koster said Bali foreign arrivals are holding steady at 19,000 to 24,000 a day and that hotels are more than 90% full. Those are his figures, and we haven’t been able to check them against official data, so here is what he said and how it fits with what we already know.

The short version: ANTARA reported on October 29 that Koster described foreign arrivals as stable at 19,000 to 24,000 a day in 2026, said the fuel distribution problem had been brought under control without hurting visits, put hotel occupancy at more than 90%, and said hotel and restaurant revenue had risen by about Rp 600 billion through October 22 compared with the same period last year.

What the Governor Said

Koster was speaking at a book launch in Denpasar on Wednesday, October 28, according to ANTARA Bali. He said arrivals had been a concern while Bali was dealing with its fuel distribution problems, but that the situation was controllable and had no negative effect on visits. He put hotel occupancy at more than 90%, with star-rated hotels the fullest, and linked that to activity at restaurants, small businesses and travel services.

He also gave longer-term figures: about 7.05 million foreign and 9.3 million domestic visitors in 2025, and about 6.3 million foreign visitors in 2019, the last year before the pandemic. On his numbers, last year’s foreign total was well above the 2019 level.

How It Fits With Earlier Figures

Earlier this month, Koster forecast 7.1 to 7.2 million foreign visitors for 2026, with 5.2 million arriving from January to September, as we reported in our look at the 2026 arrivals forecast. Our rough arithmetic then suggested the forecast needs about 20,700 to 21,700 arrivals a day on average for the rest of the year. The tourism office put mid-October arrivals at 22,000 to 24,000 a day (ANTARA Bali, October 20).

The governor’s new range starts lower, at 19,000. Our own reading, not his: if arrivals average around the middle of his range, about 21,500 a day, that is roughly in line with what the forecast needs, but days at the bottom of the range would leave it short. The year-end holidays will decide it, and we can’t predict them.

The Fuel Question

This is now the third official voice saying the fuel crisis didn’t dent arrivals, after Koster’s own comments on October 16 and the tourism office’s on October 20. The one contrary account we’ve seen came from the operator of the Jatiluwih rice terraces, who reported visits there down by nearly half at the height of the queues. As we explained in our fuel crisis update, those claims measure different things: arrivals at the airport versus visits to one rural attraction that depends on drivers.

Where the Growth Is Coming From

One market the government is actively courting is China. ANTARA reported on October 30 that the Tourism Ministry hosted seven Chinese travel-trade representatives in Labuan Bajo and Bali from October 19 to 25, with the Bali leg focused on cultural, wellness and culinary tourism in Ubud and business meetings with 14 local operators. The same report cites Statistics Indonesia figures of 1.34 million Chinese arrivals in 2025 and 1.05 million from January to August 2026, up 16.46% on the same period last year. The article doesn’t make clear whether those are Indonesia-wide or Bali-only numbers, so we’d read them as a broad trend rather than a Bali figure.

What We Can’t Check

We couldn’t find official hotel occupancy data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) for September or October 2026 to test the “more than 90%” figure, and the governor didn’t say which hotels or which period it covers. The report also doesn’t make clear whether the Rp 600 billion rise refers to the businesses’ takings or to the hotel and restaurant tax the government collects. All of this comes from a single report of a single speech, and we haven’t seen the underlying data.

Quick Answers About Bali Foreign Arrivals

How many foreign visitors are arriving each day? Governor Koster says 19,000 to 24,000, and describes the number as stable in 2026.

Did the fuel crisis reduce arrivals? The governor and the tourism office say it didn’t. One attraction operator reported a big drop in visits to his site at the height of the queues.

Are hotels really over 90% full? That is the governor’s figure. We couldn’t find official data to confirm it.

The Chimera Villas Take

Steady arrivals are good news for everyone who works in Bali tourism, and we’d still rather show you the gaps in the numbers than repeat them uncritically. If busy hotels are a sign of busy holidays ahead, it’s a reason to book your key dates early, and you can check our villa availability any time.