What is happening
I Gusti Agung Ngurah Rai Suryawijaya, vice chair of PHRI Bali, the hotel and restaurant association, said domestic tourist visits dropped sharply in September 2026. He put the fall at up to 15%.
Foreign travel looks different. The association says about 22,000 international tourists arrive in Bali every day on 43 flights, and PHRI sees no decline in that segment.
Three reasons
The first reason, Suryawijaya said, is expensive airfares. The second is that the central government is holding fewer meetings and events in Bali, which used to be a meaningful source of hotel demand.
The third is a weaker national economy, with Indonesians spending less on travel.
Hotel occupancy
Despite the domestic slowdown, the picture for the year remains solid. PHRI says average regional occupancy was 70 to 73% from January to June 2026 and rose to 80 to 90% in July and August.
September is usually quieter than the peak months. If domestic demand keeps falling, properties that rely on guests from Jakarta and other Indonesian cities will feel it most.
For the villa rental market the mix of demand matters. Indonesian guests tend to come for weekends and holidays, while foreigners stay longer, so a domestic slowdown shows up most in weekday and short stays.
The 15% figure is the association's estimate, not official data from BPS, the statistics agency. BPS Bali will publish official September figures later.