As our island Bali made it once again to this year’s “Best Islands In Asia” rankings by Condé Nast, might we expect even more tourists to come experience all that Pulau Dewata has to offer?
Bali may have gotten a little tourism scare (if you can call it that) last month, what with the government and House of Representatives (DPR) almost passing a draconian revision to Indonesia’s criminal code, which includes articles criminalizing sex outside of marriage and cohabitation; sending many foreign news outlets to a panic over these particular aspects of the bill.
Coconuts Bali is here to remind you, once again, that there is currently no premarital sex ban in Bali and passage of those revisions has been delayed indefinitely.
Read more: Dear tourists: No, you won’t be jailed for having sex with your unmarried partner in Bali
Now, as Condé Nast Traveler has so nicely described in The Best Islands in the World: 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards: “There’s nowhere quite like Bali.”
We’re inclined to agree, as this is where travelers can expect an eclectic mix of beautiful beaches, stunning forests and active volcanoes, all of which exist alongside the vibrant traditional culture and dynamic lifestyle scene that the island is famous for.
“Despite high–and still growing–tourist numbers, you can still find vestiges of old Bali in small villages surrounded by rice paddies, where you’ll hear the twinkling chimes of neighborhood gamelan ensembles rehearsing,” wrote Condé Nast’s Valerie Marino.
The survey, published this week, separated the best islands in the world by region, with Bali ranking 5th for Asia’s Top 5. Title for best island in the region goes to Boracay in the Philippines, while two other Philippine destinations – Cebu and Visayas Islands and Palawan – as well as Penang, Malaysia, also joined the ranks.
Earlier in July, Bali was ranked the third best island in the world by Travel + Leisure readers in their survey, which effectively made it an honoree of the World’s Best Award Hall of Fame, meaning that the destination has been voted onto the Best Islands in the World list for the past 10 consecutive years.
In 2018, over six million foreign tourists visited Bali. According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), more than four million foreign tourists have visited the island up until August of this year.
