{"id":7427,"date":"2025-02-28T14:22:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T14:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8090\/kak-izmenilsya-bali-za-poslednie-za-60-l\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T10:05:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T10:05:56","slug":"bali-60-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baliimoti.com\/en\/bali-60-years\/","title":{"rendered":"How has Bali changed in the last 60 years?"},"content":{"rendered":"

For about 60 years, Bali has transformed from a farming island with 2.1 million residents into a tourism economy with 4.3 million residents and nearly 7 million foreign tourists annually.<\/strong> This change did not happen by itself \u2014 it is the result of specific decisions: the airport, a master plan commissioned by the state and the gradual tightening of ownership and land rules.<\/p>\n

\n\t\"Old
\n<\/figure>\n

Starting point<\/h2>\n

In 1960, Indonesia adopted the Basic Agrarian Law (UUPA No. 5), which preserved freehold ownership of land (Hak Milik<\/em>) for Indonesian citizens \u2014 a rule that determined who has access to the market and continues to this day. In the 1960s, Bali was primarily a farming island: the population in 1971 was 2,120,091 people, and the economy relied on rice and fishing in the 1960s. In 1963, the first large international-class hotel was opened in Sanur \u2014 the Bali Beach Hotel, built on a state initiative. It was around it that the tourist flow began.<\/p>\n

The airport and the opening to the world<\/h2>\n

Bali's airport started as a small airstrip from the Dutch colonial era in the early 1930s (in Tuban, now Denpasar). It received international status in the '60s, and a new international terminal was opened in 1978. The current international terminal is from 2013. Without a direct connection to world air traffic, mass tourism could not have started.<\/p>\n

The master plan and Nusa Dua<\/h2>\n

In 1971, with the help of the UN, the state commissioned the French consultancy SCETO to conduct a comprehensive tourism development study. The plan was officially adopted in the early '70s. In 1972, a coordination structure was created, and in November 1973 \u2014 the state company BTDC, which was to build the Nusa Dua resort complex. In 1974, the World Bank granted a $16 million loan for the project. Nusa Dua was chosen because it is dry, sparsely populated land close to the airport and far from traditional villages \u2014 a decision that is cited today as an example of both planning and separating the tourist from local life. The first large hotel there opened around 1983.<\/p>\n

The population and the cities<\/h2>\n

Tourism growth went hand in hand with population growth. According to BPS censuses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Census<\/th>\nPopulation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1971<\/td>\n2 120 091<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1980<\/td>\n2 469 724<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1990<\/td>\n2 777 356<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2000<\/td>\n3 146 999<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2010<\/td>\n3 890 757<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2020<\/td>\n4 317 404<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The fastest decade is 2000\u20132010 with growth of over 2% annually \u2014 exactly the period when South Bali expanded most intensively. Today the density is about 800 people per square kilometer, and the province's economy is about 16.5 billion dollars (2022), with tourism contributing about 80% of it.<\/p>\n

Tourism in numbers<\/h2>\n

Foreign arrivals in Bali (BPS data, Statistics Indonesia):<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Year<\/th>\nForeign tourists<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1970<\/td>\n24 340<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1980<\/td>\n139 695<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1990<\/td>\n489 710<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2000<\/td>\n1 412 839<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2010<\/td>\n\u2248 2,500,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2019<\/td>\n6 275 210<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2020<\/td>\n\u2248 1,050,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2025<\/td>\n6 948 754<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The growth has not been uninterrupted. On October 12, 2002, the attack in Kuta killed 202 people and interrupted the rising line for years. In 2020, the pandemic collapsed arrivals by over 80%, and 2021 was practically zero. Recovery since 2024\u20132025.<\/p>\n

The decade of Canggu<\/h2>\n

In the 2010s, the center of gravity shifted from Kuta and Seminyak to Canggu \u2014 an area that turned into a hub of digital nomads, cafes, and new villas. In 2017, Bali was declared by Tripadvisor as the world's best destination, and the same year an \u201eovercrowded situation with traffic jam\u201c on a 6-kilometer road showed that infrastructure does not keep pace with growth. Since that period, the theme for local authorities has been not how to attract more tourists, but how to manage the ones who have already arrived.<\/p>\n

The price of growth<\/h2>\n

Urbanization and construction have eaten up agricultural land. Various estimates point to a loss of rice fields in the order of 1,200\u20132,000 hectares annually, and the area of protected rice fields has fallen below 65,000 hectares compared to over 70,000 in 2019. In 2026, a provincial ordinance criminalizes the conversion of protected rice fields into buildings, with sanctions including demolition of the building.<\/p>\n

Regulation today<\/h2>\n

Since the early 2020s, the state and the province have strengthened control over foreign activity. As early as 2023, a governor's circular letter No. 4 restricted tourists' access to properties with valid permits. In 2025, an interdepartmental working group was formed against illegal foreign business activity, and in areas like Binging there was demolition of illegal buildings. The message is clear: the island remains open for investment, but not for schemes outside the law.<\/p>\n

This text describes the historical and regulatory framework as of the moment of publication and is not advice. Sources: BPS, World Bank, publications on tourism history.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you want to understand how these changes shape today's market and what they mean for your specific investment \u2014 contact us<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the expansive rice fields to the grown cities: how did Bali change over the last 60 years?<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-novini"],"yoast_head":"\nHow has Bali changed in the last 60 years? - baliimoti.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/baliimoti.com\/en\/bali-60-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How has Bali changed in the last 60 years?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From the expansive rice fields to the grown cities: how did Bali change over the last 60 years?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/baliimoti.com\/en\/bali-60-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"baliimoti.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/1277525220711776\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-28T14:22:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-14T10:05:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/baliimoti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/bali-60-years.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"511\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/baliimoti.com\/bg\/bali-60-years\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/baliimoti.com\/bg\/bali-60-years\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"\u041a\u0430\u043a \u0441\u0435 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0438 \u0411\u0430\u043b\u0438 \u043f\u0440\u0435\u0437 \u043f\u043e\u0441\u043b\u0435\u0434\u043d\u0438\u0442\u0435 60 \u0433\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0438?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-28T14:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-14T10:05:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/baliimoti.com\/bg\/bali-60-years\/\"},\"wordCount\":657,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baliimoti.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/baliimoti.com\/bg\/bali-60-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/baliimoti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/bali-60-years.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"\u041d\u043e\u0432\u0438\u043d\u0438\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/baliimoti.com\/bg\/bali-60-years\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/baliimoti.com\/bg\/bali-60-years\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/baliimoti.com\/bg\/bali-60-years\/\",\"name\":\"\u041a\u0430\u043a \u0441\u0435 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0438 \u0411\u0430\u043b\u0438 \u043f\u0440\u0435\u0437 \u043f\u043e\u0441\u043b\u0435\u0434\u043d\u0438\u0442\u0435 60 \u0433\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0438? 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