Slowly but surely, over the last few years, Bali has been low-key establishing itself as a world-class cruise tourism destination.
With heavy investment in Benoa Harbour and infrastructural developments meaning the dock can now accommodate even bigger cruise liners, over the weekend, Bali hit a huge new milestone.
On Friday 21st February Benoa Harbour welcomes not one, not two but three international cruise liners all at the same time. This is the first time this has ever happened in Bali and the Indonesian Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir, spoke to the media about the history making weekend.
Minister Thohir told reporters “This success further establishes Benoa Port as the main destination for international cruise ships and a historic momentum on the journey to become Home Port Tourism in Indonesia.” The ships named Silver Nova, Queen Elizabeth, and Viking Sky were a sight to behold in the typical quiet port of Benoa.
Minister Thohir added “This is real evidence that Benoa Port is capable of becoming a center for cruise ship tourism destinations. With an infrastructure that continues to develop, we are optimistic that more cruise ships will make Benoa their home port.”
The cruise liners were notable in their size and passenger capacity. Once upon a time, Bali could only welcome small cruise ships carrying a few hundred passengers and crew. Now all that has changed. The Silver Nova is a 244-meter cruise ship, which a total of 1,185 passengers and crew into Benoa this weekend.
The Queen Elizabeth is 293 meters long and brought 2,927 passengers and crew to Bali, while the Viking Sky is a comparatively modest 228 meters in length and carried 1,311 passengers and crew.
Minister Thohir was please that the arrival of these over 5,000 passengers would also boost the local economy in Benoa area and around Bali. Medium, small and micro enterprises, ranging from cafes to souvenir stalls, guesthouses, hotels, boutiques and informal vendors at the harbor would have interacted with passengers in one way or another.
As 2025 progresses Minister Thohir revealed that 149 cruise ships are scheduled to dock in Indonesia, the vast majority of which will arrive in Bali. Indonesia has been on a mission to establish Bali as a top cruise destination and this weekend’s triple arrival feels as if it is a firm planting of the flag in that regard.
Benoa Habor is in the late stages of its transformation into become the Bali Maritime Tourism Hub. As a partnership between the Indonesian government and the private company Pelindo, over USD 80 million has been pumped into the area to develop the area into a world class maritime tourism zone.
The new and improved anchorage allows for cruise ships up to 350m in length to dock. Tyoiclay these ships can carry up to 6,000 passengers plus crew.
Once fully completed the Bail Maritime Tourism Hub will also feature yacht marina, yacht club, theme park, and water sports facility. In addition to practical elements like liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, liquid cargo storage, and wet berth and dry berth units.
The luxury yacht marina is of particular interest to tourism developers and the Indonesian government too.
While cruise ships have the potential to bring in a huge amount of tourists, the luxury yacht industry has the potential to bring in more of the high spending tourists that the government want to attract more readily.
In January 2024 the luxury yacht company Yacht Sourcing announced a new partnership with Black Stone Yacht Club in Benoa to provide tourists traveling by luxury yacht a luxury on-land dining experience, as well as creating partnerships with five-star hotels in the region and helicopter tour providers. The partnership was seen as the start of a new chapter for luxury tourism in Bali’s Benoa.
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