What happened
Foreign arrivals to Indonesia keep rising. Over the first eight months of 2026 the country received 10.58 million international visitors, 5.38% more than in the same stretch of 2025. August alone brought in 1.6 million people, an increase of 6.27%.
Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana released the figures in the ministry's monthly performance report on Friday, 9 October. A day earlier, Bali's tourism office set out which countries sent visitors to the island in August.
Who is coming to Bali
Bali Tourism Office head I Wayan Sumarajaya cited provincial data from BPS, the national statistics agency. Australia kept first place in August with 161,258 arrivals. China followed with 47,613.
The standout change came from France. French travellers took third place with 41,937 arrivals, moving past India at 34,837. The United Kingdom ranked fifth with 32,928.
The gap at the top is wide. Australians visiting Bali in August outnumbered the Chinese, French and Indian arrivals combined.
Why the French surge
Sumarajaya pointed to European summer holidays and a spell of extreme heat in France. He told reporters the timing of school and work holidays across Europe, France included, was the likely driver.
He added that French visitors tend to head for the island's busiest areas: Kuta, Seminyak and Canggu in Badung regency, plus Ubud, which sits in neighbouring Gianyar.
This is a seasonal explanation. Whether France holds third place in other months will only become clear from later reports.
Which markets are growing
The ministry is focusing on short and medium haul source markets, and that strategy is paying off. Arrivals from the rest of Asia rose 8.41%, from Southeast Asia 7.75% and from Oceania, which includes Australia, 7.36%.
Visits from the Middle East also returned to growth over the eight months, up 1.30%. The minister described the results as evidence that Indonesian tourism remains resilient.
Domestic travel is climbing too. Deputy Minister Ni Luh Puspa said Indonesians made 104.30 million domestic trips in August, up 11.47% year on year. For January to August the total reached 842.15 million trips, a rise of 4.29%.
Policy push: more destinations
Deputy Minister Ni Luh Puspa called domestic travellers one of the key pillars keeping the sector resilient. She said the government wants growth to benefit a wider range of regions across the country.
To that end the ministry will keep running its #diIndonesiaAja campaign, urging people to holiday at home, and will work to spread trips across more destinations. That goes well beyond Bali to other islands and provinces.
Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana stressed that growth held up despite a difficult global backdrop. In the ministry's view, the Middle East market began to recover as conditions there gradually improved.
What it means for the Bali market
Demand in Bali remains heavily tied to Australia. For rental owners, Australian school holidays and the Australian dollar exchange rate still shape occupancy to a large degree.
The summer jump in French visitors widens the European segment. Europeans often stay longer and travel in the northern summer peak, and their favourite areas overlap with the main villa markets of Canggu, Seminyak and Ubud.
At the same time, the government wants to spread visitors across more destinations nationwide. For Bali that means more competition for guests from other Indonesian islands.