Jakarta. Fewer Chinese people are coming to Indonesia’s tourism hotspot of Bali, according to official statistics, but the Island of the Gods is now gaining popularity among Americans. 

Data published Monday by BPS Bali -- the province’s statistics bureau -- revealed that the region had recorded 472,070 foreign arrivals in March alone. The figure marked a 4.11% drop from February, while signaling a slight 0.26% growth year-on-year (yoy). Bali only clocked 32,497 Chinese arrivals in March, still falling short of the previous month. 

“Foreign arrivals from China had tumbled 58.79% month-to-month to just 32,497. There was the Chinese New Year in February, causing the figure to be relatively high that month, and now arrivals have returned to normal,” BPS Bali chief Agus Gede Hendrayana Hermawan told a press briefing.

The dramatic plunge did not stop China from being Bali’s third-largest source of international tourists in March. The top two were Australia (119,777 arrivals) and India (42,460 arrivals). Amid fewer Chinese visitors, Bali clocked a 37.05% month-to-month growth for American visitors. The province registered 23,003 American arrivals in March, putting the US in fifth place as to which country drove Bali’s tourism the most.

Even so, there is an uptrend in Chinese visitors from a quarterly standpoint. Chinese arrivals went up 20.22% in January-March 2026 compared to the same period of last year. Bali’s foreign tourists rose to their highest level in four years, nearing 1.47 million arrivals in Q1 2026.

The BPS report unmasked a steep month-to-month decline of a whopping 26.96% in Asian arrivals in March. Bali saw a 4.14% hike in ASEAN visitors versus February 2026, reaching 50,455 arrivals in March. Middle Eastern visitors were on a 10.16% month-to-month drop, registering 2,201 arrivals as the Iran war had fueled airspace closures in the Gulf.

Bali wants to attract approximately 6.6 million international travelers throughout 2026.

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