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Bali Surges With More Guests From Spiritual Tourism
08/03/2012

Bali spiritual tourism packages in high demand? A Bali travel association revealed recently that there is an increasing demand from foreign Bali tourists to provide Bali spirits tourism packages.

Travel agents in Bali have been saying that Bali has rapidly become popular as a spiritual tourism destination, which is evidenced by the increase in itinerary requests to travel agents from groups of foreign tourists, according to Bagus Sudibya, deputy chairman of the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies in Bali (ASITA Bali).

Mr. Sudibya said, on the sidelines of a discussion on spiritual tourism in Sanur, "Most of the groups are from Australia, the US, Japan and Europe. They usually regularly do activities like yoga or meditation."

It had been estimated by the association that the percentage of travel agents organizing spiritual tourism packages was around 10 percent, while there was roughly 5 percent of all incoming foreign tourists who come to Bali to enjoy spiritual activities.

Sudibya said that within a month, there are some travel agents who handle three or four groups of between 10 and 15 people, and these numbers shows an upward trend.

"This shows that spiritual tourism has potential to be developed in Bali, and most importantly, it could contribute to improving conditions in Bali as this kind of tourism is more qualified than mass tourism."

Mr. Sudibya also said that there are travel agents who have also been more intensely offering spiritual tourism packages, without waiting for demand.

He explained that the market has responded positively, because of the fact that there are a growing number of people who are looking to find inner peace and happiness through self-healing amid the problems in their lives.

In fact, there was a seminar that was recently held last Saturday, July 28, 2012 at the Inna Grand Bali Beach Hotel. The seminar explored the challenges and potential of spiritual tourism for Bali.