Bali Will Remain Indonesia’s Top Priority For Tourism Development

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Leaders in Indonesia have confirmed that while promotional efforts will be taking place to showcase travel opportunities across the country, Bali will remain a top priority.

The update comes as tourists have been encouraged to use Bali as a launchpad for travel adventures across the archipelago. 

For decades, Bali has been Indonesia’s flagship tourism destination. Welcoming over 6.5 million tourists a year, the island is one of the most popular tourism destinations in the world. In fact, only this month was Bali named the Best Island for Travel by the esteemed Conde Nast Traveler magazine. 

Speaking at a press conference this week, the Secretary General of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), Maulana Yusran, highlighted several positive achievements by the Ministry of Tourism in developing Indonesia’s tourism sector.

Tourism is a huge contributor to Indonesia’s GDP, and the country’s global public image and perception of the tourism sector has always been of the utmost importance. 

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Yusran first explained how the Ministry of Tourism serves as a regulator in the Indonesian tourism market. The Ministry of Tourism, amongst other things, is responsible for ensuring balanced growth in the tourism sector nationwide.

Balanced does not always have to be 50/50; in the case of tourism in Indonesia, the balance is, in fact, almost always tipped in favor of Bali. Yusran noted that the Ministry of Tourism also monitors market development and tourism product refinement. The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) fulfills a similar role but with a specific focus on hotels and restaurants.

Yusran shared, “Even though we have many destinations, we have, if we talk about national strategic tourism areas, as far as I remember, there are 88, but the focus has always been Bali.”

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He called on the Ministry of Tourism to do more to establish equitable tourism development and work to ensure that tourism is developed in accordance with the law, especially in Bali.

Yusran explained, “One thing we’re seeing is that they [Ministry of Tourism] are slowly starting to see how the destination is developing, and they’re addressing the issue of overtourism and illegal accommodations. But we still need a bigger role to truly address the root causes.”

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Yusran was clear that the Ministry of Tourism’s one-year achievements were inseparable from the country’s economic challenges, such as budget efficiency, insufficient labor absorption, and declining hotel occupancy rates in 2025.

Though he was hopeful that change is on the horizon, in the form of major developments in the travel and transport sector.

He noted that there are 37 regional airports in Indonesia that have the potential to become international airports, which would open up the Indonesian tourism sector to no end. 

In Bali, for example, there are increasingly calls to speed up the development of the North Bali International Airport. There are signs that elements of the transportation hub could be in operation by 2027. 

Even as Indonesia’s super priority destinations, including neighbouring Lombok, are garnering increasing attention from international tourists, it is clear that Bali will remain the crown jewel of the nation’s tourism for many more years to come. 

Wonderful Indonesia, the national tourism board, continues to promote Bali as a destination in its own right, and as a launchpad for adventures around the country. Only this week did Wonderful Indonesia point potential tourists to Bali towards the Camphuan Ridge Walk, Tirta Empul Temple, and Nusa Lembongan as must-visit destinations on a first trip to the Island of the Gods.