Bali Forecasting 3.8 Million international Arrivals

The tug a war between Phuket and Bali for international resort travelers could see the Island of the Gods nudge Thailand's leading resort destination in 2014.
According to data on BaliDiscovery.com mid-year foreign arrivals topped 2 million, and are expected to achieve over 3.8 million for the full year by the end of December.
One key take away from the Bali performance is that at mid-year regional visitors accounted for close to 90% of the market. To qualify this, it means the domestic segment plus Asia Pacific. Without a doubt the East is the new West.
Given the knock on effect on this year's Thai political issues and curfew, Phuket's numbers from May onwards year-on-year have seen negative growth.
Expectations remain strong that a fourth quarter surge will see the variance shored up, but from our discussions with hoteliers this year's high season is rebounding but majority of this is focused on peak demand periods.
Question marks remain over the impact the lack of beach facilities will have on the Euro-centric legacy snowbird market, and also the impact of a fast depreciating Russian Rouble.
Currency volatility and geopolitics issues could be tourism game changers for the foreseeable future.