JAKARTA—Bali has set a new continental record, becoming the first Asian destination to be declared the world’s best tourist destination by TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site.
The planning and booking travel website honored Bali as the winner of its 2017 Travelers’ Choice™ awards for destinations across the world at a ceremony held in Seminyak, Bali, on Thursday night. The resort island leads among 418 outstanding destinations across the globe.
According to the list, the top 10 Travelers’ Choice Destinations in the world are: Bali, Indonesia; London, United Kingdom; Paris, France; Rome, Italy; New York City, United States; Crete, Greece; Barcelona, Spain; Siem Reap, Cambodia; Prague, Czech Republic; and Phuket, Thailand.
“It is really an honor for us to be chosen as the best in the world this year. I believe this award will strengthen our position as a tourism destination,” said I Gde Pitana, deputy minister for international tourism marketing at the Tourism Ministry.
He said the award would also boost the government’s efforts to reach the target of 20 million foreign tourists by 2019.
Besides Bali’s achievement, Lombok was also awarded as one the top 10 destinations in Asia.
TripAdvisor spokesperson for AsiaPacific, Sarah Mathews, said Bali was a destination with topnotch experiences for every type of traveler, be they natural, cultural or gastronomical, and thus most users tended to want to share these experiences with the world.
“User-generated content plays such a key role in traveler discovery and we encourage more travelers to share their wonderful Bali experiences with other global users on TripAdvisor to encourage them to visit the island,” Sarah said.
Global reviews and opinions on TripAdvisor have now crossed the 500 million milestone, with the site and app receiving 290 contributions of content every minute.
Bali has seen steady year-on-year growth in user reviews across all three categories — accommodation (25%), attractions (38%) and eateries (38%) — indicating sustained global interest in the full spectrum of tourism offerings on the island.
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