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  • The tropical island of Bali has sun, sand and sea.

  • That's why it's become a tourism hotspot, drawing millions of visitors each year.

  • TripAdvisor consistently names Bali as one of the world's favorite travel destinations.

  • And while Bali is just one of thousands of islands in Indonesia, it gets the lion's share of visitors to the country.

  • Last year, 14 million international tourists visited Indonesia.

  • Of that, 5.7 million, or about 40 percent, went to Bali.

  • Bali is enjoying a spike in popularity.

  • Since 2015, the number of tourists have grown by about 20 percent every year.

  • That's much higher than Asia's average yearly growth in tourism, which is at about six percent.

  • Indonesian authorities credit their visa-free policy.

  • Tourists from just 15 countries could visit Indonesia without a visa in 2015.

  • That number has grown to 169 countries today.

  • But Bali's popularity has also seriously challenged its ability to keep up its image of paradise.

  • Locals are concerned that the island cannot support the growing tourist numbers because tourism contributes to a worsening water and waste crisis.

  • The waste problem is getting serious.

  • Last year, Bali had to declare a garbage emergency on its coast and deploy 700 cleaners to remove garbage from its shores.

  • Bali's supply of water has also depleted rapidly and experts are calling it a water crisis.

  • That's mostly because of tourism, which is estimated to use 65 percent of the island's water supply.

  • In fact, the average tourist is estimated to use four to five times more water than a local.

  • Bali elected a new administration last year, and its new governors have been focused on protecting the island's cultural heritage.

  • For the first time, Bali is considering banning visitors from entering its sacred Hindu temples, without a guide.

  • That announcement came after several incidents of disrespectful behavior by tourists in holy sites, including posing in bikinis inside the temples and entering sacred areas.

  • I met up with Indonesia's tourism minister Arief Yahya during his recent visit to Singapore, to ask about the country's plans to spread tourism into other parts on Indonesia.

  • We realize everybody in the world knows only Bali.

  • That's why our president challenged me to create another 10 new Balis.

  • Mr. Arief is a former chief executive of Indonesia's largest telecommunications company, which is why he's been focused on marketing Indonesia to millennials through digital platforms.

  • The ministry recently signed a deal with ride-hailing giant Grab to put Indonesian tourism destinations on its platform.

  • But it's not just Southeast Asians Mr. Arief is targeting.

  • For the first time last year, Chinese tourists outnumbered Australians as the biggest group of visitors coming to Bali.

  • One in four of Bali's foreign tourists came from China, an increase of about 50 percent in two years.

  • You can tell the island is catering to its new visitors, with an increase in Chinese restaurants and Chinese-language signs.

  • But this new demographic has also sparked a debate over something known as zero-dollar tours, which are all-inclusive packages sold at bargain prices.

  • Bali's new administration has started to investigate them, looking into claims that the money made on these tours isn't making its way into the local economy.

  • There are also concerns about the safety of the Chinese visitors.

  • Mr. Arief says he finds zero-dollar tours troubling because he believes tour operators aren't properly licensed.

  • But he welcomes Chinese tourists themselves with open arms.

  • In terms of size, they're the largest. In terms of growth, they're the largest.

  • In terms of forex receipts, they're the largest. So, the Chinese tourists are our preferred customers.

  • If there is some bad news for Chinese tourists I will say that the bad news is coming from our commentators.

  • Mr. Arief tells me tourism is on track to surpass oil, gas and coal as the biggest contributor to Indonesia's foreign exchange revenues next year.

  • Indonesia is targeting 20 million tourists by 2020, and Bali is likely to receive most of them.

  • With a new airport reportedly in the works and measures by locals and authorities to deal with its challenges, Bali's future as a tourist paradise looks optimistic.

  • Hello from Bali. Thanks for watching.

  • I'm Xin En and if you want to check out more of our videos, click here.

  • Don't forget to subscribe and see you next time!

The tropical island of Bali has sun, sand and sea.

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