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round 5,000 bikers are expected to visit Denpasar, Bali, for the first-ever Asia Pacific Harley Davidson Owners Group (HOG) Convention in November.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said that the event would attract at least 5,000 loyalists, excluding the event vendors and non-participant visitors.

'€œThe value of this event is estimated to reach around Rp 1 trillion (US$75.1 million) both from the direct impacts, including transportation and hotel bookings, and also from the media value,'€ Arief told reporters on Thursday. '€œBoth Harley Davidson and Bali have big names, therefore I think this event will be a trending topic,'€ he continued.

Harley Davidson Asia Pacific has chosen Bali as the location for its first-ever customer-led Asia Pacific Harley Owners Group Convention, which will take place on Nov. 4 to 7.

'€œWe chose Bali for its strategic location, solid infrastructure and entertainment options for people of all ages. These attributes make Bali the perfect location for our event,'€ said Martin Engelbrecht, regional customer experience manager for Harley-Davidson Asia Pacific.

The four-day event will comprise several activities, including HOG Enthusiast Adventure Training (HEAT), social events for Harley-Davidson owners and riders, free entertainment, and of course, promotional displays of Harley-Davidson'€™s newest motorcycles.

The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Bali reached 287,100 in May, an increase of 0.41 percent from the same month last year. Compared to April, the number is down 7.34 percent.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), total foreign tourist arrivals during the first five months of this year amounted to 3.84 million people, a 3.85 percent increase from the same period in 2014 '€” far below the growth recorded last year.

From January to May 2014, the BPS recorded 3.7 million tourist arrivals nationwide, a 9.96 percent increase year-on-year.

The number of foreign tourists during the January-May period accounted for only 36.57 percent of the government'€™s full-year target of 10.5 million foreign tourists.

However, the minister said he was optimistic that the country could still achieve the target following the visa-free policy for 30 countries that was signed by President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo last month, which expected to bring in an additional 500,000 to 1 million tourists.

He said that the ministry estimated the number of tourists from China, which is the government'€™s current tourism promotion focus, to increase 50 percent from the 900,000 recorded in 2014 to 1.3 million this year.

Meanwhile, the Bali provincial administration expects to welcome 4 million foreign tourists this year following the government'€™s policy to waive visa requirements for certain countries.

The provincial administration is upbeat that the number of foreign visitors to Bali will grow by at least 500,000 visitors this year from 3.5 million visitors in the previous year.