Foreign Tourist Arrivals to Bali Rise 10 Percent, Immigration to Reorganise Desks at Airport
Bali has experienced a surge in foreign tourist arrivals during the period from January to April 2026. The number of foreign tourists visiting the Island of the Gods over those four months increased by 10 percent compared to the same period last year.
This was revealed by the Head of Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, Bugie Kurniawan, during a media gathering at his office on Wednesday (6/5/2026). Bugie stated that more than 4.5 million crossings occurred through Ngurah Rai Airport during the January-April 2026 period. Of that number, around 4 million were foreign tourists.
“This shows that Bali remains a primary global tourism destination, even though current visa policies are applied more selectively,” Bugie said.
Nevertheless, Bugie assessed that the conditions in the international arrival area at Ngurah Rai Airport are not yet ideal. According to Bugie, the many service counters placed between the passenger pathways leading to immigration make the area feel crowded.
“Upon visiting the airport, looking at the arrival area, in my opinion, it is crowded. Because there are too many desks or agencies located in the middle between passenger arrivals and the immigration counters,” Bugie added.
Bugie then detailed the various service counters in the international arrival area at Ngurah Rai Airport. From visa on arrival (VoA) counters, quarantine, to online data filling stations scattered throughout the area. According to him, this slows down the passenger movement flow.
Ngurah Rai Immigration, he said, plans to reorganise the service desks and rearrange the passenger flow (re-flowing passenger) at the airport. All desks located in the middle of the arrival area will be relocated, and that area will be sterilised.
“Well, this is what we are trying to improve with re-layout and re-flowing passenger, to create a seamless immigration service or check. So all the desks in the middle of the international arrival area, we will sterilise them,” he added.
In addition, Ngurah Rai Immigration is also encouraging the increased use of autogates to speed up the inspection process at the airport. In the future, Immigration will only allow passports with electronic chips.
“Because the autogate inspection is so fast, but without overlooking security factors. Because the inspection system is so advanced, we will only allow passports with electronic chips, just like our Indonesian passports. Those are the ones permitted to pass through the autogate,” he concluded.