Indonesia’s new President, Prabowo Subianto, has revealed plans to expand tourism in Bali and extend development to the lesser-visited northern region. Central to the project is the construction of a second airport on the island, which he believes “will make Bali the new Singapore or Hong Kong, with this development at the centre.”
The new North Bali International Airport project has been in the pipeline since 2015, but took a major step closer to implementation with the President’s recent comments. Officials believe a second, more northerly alternative to the existing Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar would provide the catalyst for investment in the north of the island, diversifying the island’s offerings from the tried and tested tourism hubs in the south, such as Kuta, Canggu, Seminyak, Jimbaran, Nusa Dua and Sanur.
Observers have been quick to spot the potential for investment and development associated with the new plans. According to Gary Bowerman, a commentator for the Asia Media Center and an expert on Indonesian tourism trends, “by attracting investors in tourism-adjacent sectors, such as entertainment, festivals, music, fashion, retail, F&B, wellbeing, car rental plus hotels and resorts, the President hopes to diversify Bali’s lifestyle economy.”
The President’s plans follow a pattern of infrastructure development that is familiar to tourism hubs throughout Southeast Asia, where new airports, roads and rail networks are supporting smoother travel experiences and opening up new destinations for travellers to explore. These developments are also expected to have a positive impact on the national economy. “I am optimistic that the development of the tourism sector can continue and further encourage the contribution of the tourism sector to the growth of the national GDP,” said Rizki Handayani Mustafa, Deputy for Industry and Investment at Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism, in an interview with the Antara News Agency last month.
For Bali, the plans offer a way to alleviate pressure on the popular southern areas of the island, which have experienced record numbers of visitors since reopening after the Covid-19 pandemic. Bali’s Governor, Wayan Koster has repeatedly emphasised the need to control visitor numbers to avoid overtourism on the island, and mitigate the negative impacts of crowding on local communities, island infrastructure and the environment.
In 2024, Indonesia welcomed a total of 13.74 million visitors, 6.3 million of whom flew direct to Bali. The top three overseas visitor markets were Australia (1.53 million), India (0.55 million) and China (0.45 million). Back in In 2019, the archipelago received 16.1 million arrivals, ranking fifth in ASEAN (behind Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam). Around 40% of those visitors flew direct to Bali.
The plans for a new airport in the north of Bali could help boost these visitor numbers back to pre-pandemic levels and, in the long-term, exceed those figures and help Indonesia realise its full tourism potential. Moreover, distributing development to other areas of the island could help ease the pressure on the congested south, while also opening up new opportunities for visitors to explore.
