DENPASAR ~

Foreign tourists having vacation to Bali recently tend to stay in villas spreading over villages, or constructed around rice fields area that offer calm and comfort to the guests.

“It is proven from the increasing number of foreign tourists arrivals, but the occupancy rate and average night stay in the hotels in the beginning of 2014 tend to decline,” said Manager of Bank Indonesia Representative Office Region III Bali and Nusa Tenggara, Ignatius Adhi Nugroho in Denpasar, on Sunday.

In the report of Bali regional economy analysis, it is mentioned that the occupancy rate in the first term of 2014 declined from 61.35 percent to 58.92 percent, meanwhile the average of night stay declined from 3.48 days to 3.17 days, in fact the number of foreign tourists visiting the Island of Gods is increasing.

Based on the record of foreign tourists visits to Bali in January-March 2014, was 835,099 people increased up to 14.87 percent, but the occupancy rate of stars and non-star hotels declined.

He mentioned that the occupancy rate declined in the beginning of 2014, possibly because of some factors, such as the more hotels construction especially in the regencies spread in all tourism destinations, as a result making occupancy rate declining.

Besides, there is a swift of foreign tourist preference from staying in hotels to staying in villas or city hotels, or because of the slow growth of domestic tourists in the beginning of 2014.

Bank Indonesia Denpasar recorded that the growth of foreign tourists is still in line with the acceptance of visa on arrival in the first term of 2014 as much as US$ 17.2 million increased from the same period in previous year, which was US$ 16 million.

The increasing income from tourism sector is due to more international community travel to Bali, especially beginning of year holiday and long holiday in January and March 2014.

In addition, many foreign tourists visiting Bali in the beginning of the year is due to several convention events (Meeting, Incentive, Convention, and Exhibition/MICE) in the first term of 2014.

One of them is Fourth International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM 2014) in January that also improved tourism sector in Bali.