So should the masses continue to patronise Bali? 80%+ of the Bali population are Hindu. They would certainly feel the brunt of a tourism drop-off backlash if people decided to 'punish' Indonesia.
Bali is Indonesia's most popular tourist destination. I cannot find accurate figures, but the estimate is that Balai is responsible for 25% of Indonesia's tourist dollars.
In total, Indonesia brings in approx $US10 billion dollars annually from tourism and approx 9 million visitors and this represents approx 8+% of their GDP. Tourism employs over 8% of the Indonesian workforce.
Aussies therefore represent over 10% of this foreign tourism. A 10% drop in Aussie visitors roughly equates to $US100m. Not chicken feed.
But back to whether Indonesia would care if there was an Aussie tourist backlash?
Either way, I'm all for looking at alternative destinations to Indonesia. Micronesia is on our doorstep as are other parts of the Pacific.
