A major holiday destination in South East Asia, Bali has always been a huge attraction for tourists from all over the world. At the crossroads of the modern and the ancient, Bali is a land steeped in tradition and culture while at the same time boasting many of the world’s finest five-star luxury hotels and resorts. In addition to the balmy tropical climate and some of the best white-sand and black-sand beaches on the planet, Bali is also home to a vibrant contemporary arts scene and also features excellent local cuisine.

Bali has drawn visitors from around the world for centuries; this is most apparent in certain cities such as the old Dutch colonial capital of Singaraja. The modern tourist industry has its roots in the 1960′s and 70′s, with the era of mass tourism starting in the 1980′s. Today, Bali’s Ngurah Rai international airport is Indonesia’s second largest airport and features direct flights from 26 cities and territories in four continents.

The breakdown of tourists in Bali by their nationalities provides a fascinating insight into the large numbers of visitors to this island paradise each year. 2009 itself saw more than 2.3 million tourists, a number estimated to grow in 2010. Predictably, the largest chunk of tourists come from nearby Australia, where Bali has always been a highly sought after holiday spot and surfing mecca. Following Australia, Japan and China also send a significant amount of tourists to Bali, as does a number of European countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia and France. The remaining tourists come from smaller Asian nations such as, Singapore, North Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia. The United States has also sends a large contingent, nearly comparable to the amount of tourists from from Germany and the UK. Bali is also growing in popularity as a vacation destination with the emerging middle classes in India and the Middle East.

The tourist industry in Bali itself is evolving to accommodate the ever growing numbers of visitors. While most visitors today stay in Bali’s south, more and more people are looking towards less congested and more peaceful areas in North Bali such as Lovina Beach. In addition to being more secluded than southern Bali, places like Lovina in north Bali is also significantly cheaper and less commercialised.