Bali has ranked first on the list of TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Awards – Best of the Best Travel Destinations 2026, with London (United Kingdom) ranking second and Dubai (United Arab Emirates) ranking third.
The ranking was compiled based on international travellers’ reviews and assessments of various destinations worldwide throughout the year 2025.
“Bali is a living postcard. Soak up the sun on a stretch of fine white sand or head underwater to dive along coral ridges or the colourful wreck of a WWII warship. On shore, the lush jungle shelters stone temples and mischievous monkeys. Base yourself in Ubud—it’s the perfect place to see a cultural dance performance, take a batik or silver-smithing workshop, or invigorate your mind and body in a yoga class,” wrote TripAdvisor on its official website.
This recognition, hence, reinforces Bali’s position as a modern leading global tourist destination. Furthermore, this recognition is also expected to support the recovery and sustainable growth of the tourism sector.
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“If tourists have a pleasant, memorable and special experience, the destination’s image will improve. This will increase awareness and encourage tourists to return to Indonesia through Bali,” Ni Made Ayu Marthini, the Deputy for Marketing at the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism, told the press on Sunday, the 18th of January.
Despite Bali’s latest recognition, Sandy Pramuji, Senior Analyst at the NEXT Indonesia Center, observed that Indonesia cannot continue to rely solely on Bali to attract foreign tourists, given that the country’s tourism sector, overall, still relatively lags far behind that of four neighbouring countries: Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.
“Indonesia’s tourism position is now lagging behind that of neighbouring countries, especially Vietnam,” Pramuji said on Sunday as well.
Pramuji also stressed that it is time for Indonesia to move beyond dependence on a single destination. This, he further observed, may require courage and cross-sectoral collaboration to address fundamental issues currently grappling the nationwide tourism sector, such as high domestic transportation costs, limited direct international air connectivity to super-priority destinations, and how to improve the quality of services on the ground.
“There are only two choices: we must be bold enough to implement reforms to improve the quality of national tourism to capture the international tourist market, or we must resign ourselves to watching our tourism revenues continue to flow out to neighbouring countries [instead],” Pramuji remarked.