Growth in Benoa cruise calls continues into 2026

Denpasar — — Benoa Port in Denpasar handled tens of thousands of international cruise passengers in early 2026, with operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) reporting steady growth in ship calls and passenger traffic as the port strengthens its role as a marine tourism hub.

Pelindo’s Bali–Nusa Tenggara unit reported that, by mid-April 2026, cruise operations at Benoa had generated strong passenger flows, including 33,889 arriving passengers and 34,146 departing passengers in the first quarter of the year. Local media citing Pelindo data describe this as part of a broader upward trend in cruise activity at the port.

Two cruise ships call simultaneously

On 16 April 2026, Benoa received two large cruise ships at the same time, an operation highlighted by Pelindo as an example of the port’s growing capacity within the Bali Maritime Tourism Hub.

According to a detailed report by Bisnis Nusa, the two vessels carried a combined total of 2,084 passengers and 1,218 crew members, staying overnight at the port before continuing to Tanjung Perak in Surabaya and to Singapore. The report notes that these calls formed part of Pelindo’s wider effort to position Benoa as a primary gateway for foreign tourists arriving by sea.

Pelindo officials quoted in the same report said cruise calls at Benoa support Bali’s tourism economy through spending on local transportation, services, tourist attractions and micro, small and medium enterprises, although they did not provide an estimate of the total monetary impact.

Sign-ups for 2026, rising calls in recent years

Several Indonesian outlets have reported that dozens of cruise ships have registered to call at Benoa in 2026, reflecting growing interest from global operators in using the port as a stopover.

Coverage by NusaBali and other media, based on Pelindo information, states that around 73 cruise ships had registered to stop at Benoa during 2026. These registrations are schedules rather than completed calls and may change over the course of the year.

Pelindo’s national data also show that Benoa has been one of the main contributors to Indonesia’s cruise sector. In a March 2026 corporate release, the state-owned port operator said Benoa recorded 65 cruise-ship visits and 146,105 passengers in 2025, making it a hub for cruise traffic within the company’s network. Local media citing Pelindo figures similarly report “more than 140,000” cruise passengers from 65 ship calls at Benoa in 2025.

Longer-term trend in cruise tourism

The recent growth builds on a longer trend. Tribun Bali, citing Pelindo data, reported that Benoa handled 48 cruise calls with 78,241 passengers in 2023, rising to 56 calls and 107,717 passengers in 2024. These figures indicate that both ship visits and passenger traffic have increased markedly over the past three years.

Pelindo and local officials have linked this expansion to infrastructure upgrades at the Bali Maritime Tourism Hub, designed to accommodate larger vessels and more simultaneous calls. In early January 2026, several reports highlighted the arrival of large international ships such as Ovation of the Seas, with thousands of passengers and crew, as emblematic of Benoa’s ambitions to serve as a regional cruise hub.

While Pelindo and local media increasingly frame Benoa as a strategic gateway for foreign visitors arriving by sea, publicly available data so far focus on ship and passenger counts. The value of passenger spending in Bali and the detailed economic contribution of cruise tourism to the island’s economy have not yet been quantified in the information released by Pelindo and reported by local outlets.

Sources

• Bisnis Nusa – “Pelabuhan Benoa Sambut Dua Kapal Pesiar: Ribuan Wisatawan Internasional Gerakkan Ekonomi Bali”
• Pelindo – Corporate release “Kunjungan Kapal Pesiar Tembus 215 Call pada 2025, Pelindo Optimistis Sambut Pertumbuhan 2026”
• Tribun Bali – “Bawa Ribuan Penumpang, Dua Kapal Pesiar Sandar Bersamaan di Pelabuhan Benoa Bali”
• NusaBali – “73 Kapal Pesiar Mewah Daftar Singgah di Benoa pada 2026”
• JPNN Bali – “Benoa Banjir Kapal Pesiar Pada 2026, Sebegini yang Sudah Mendaftar, Wow”
• SWA – “Kapal Pesiar Ovation of The Seas Bersandar di Pelabuhan Benoa, Pelindo Makin Pede Menjadi Hub Asia Pasifik”