When talking about about tourism we’re usually referring to European tourism in the 20th Century. The first western account of visiting Bali was by Dutchman Aernoudt Lintgens in 1597. Other famous westerners that followed included the Danish trader Mads Lange (200th anniversary Sept 18th 2007) and German artist Walter Spies. Spies was part of the real force that created an aura around Bali, inspiring people as far away as New York and Paris to take interest in a seemingly lost paradise rediscovered. Walter Spies lived a good chunk of his time in Campuhan close to Ubud and his paintings of village scenes in Bali really are atmospheric. Riding around Ubud / Campuhan in this present time one can see similar sights, that make one stop and wonder ‘did Spies paint at this location?’
In the first part of the 20th Century tourists reached by by steamship from Java landing in the port of Buleleng (Singaraja). the first tourist (The Bali Hotel) hotel was opened 1926 and located in Denpasar, which meant a drive over the mountains and through bangli, as documented by Miguel Covarrubias in 1936. Visitors would travel by limousine enjoying the traffic-free roads, which in those days were probably not in the greatest shape.
Artists from overseas preferred the moer exotic locations of Ubud, Campuhan, Sideman and Iseh. Balinese Prince Tjorkorde Gede Agung Sukawati started a movement for the revival and continuation of Balinese art. His close friends Walter Spies and Rudolf Bonnet providing a new set of skills and ideas. The present location of the Hotel Tjampuhan was the first travelers hostel in the area, opening in 1937. Adrien Jean Le Mayeur de Merpes basing himself in Sanur after arriving in 1932.
In 1936 Bob Koke and his wife Louise, opened the Kuta Beach Hotel creating an informal (for the period) type of accommodation and atmosphere for visitors. The simple bamboo and alang alang thatched roofed creating an idyllic setting on peaceful and mostly used Kuta Beach.
The 1960′s saw the emergence of Sanur on the SE coast come into its own, with famous expats such as Australian artist Donald Friend and take up residence. The tranquil waters of Sanur, protected by a reef was a perfect place for a large hotel, the Grand Bali Beach Hotel being the largest of its day.
The idea for Nusa Dua started in the 1970′s with a stretch of mangrove and white sand beach on the eastern Bukit being transformed into a line of 20 luxury resorts.
Bali’s international airport, Ngurah Rai in Tuban (although referred to as Denpasar) opened in 1969, the wrecks of planes being hauled off and left at the edge of the airport in the early days.
During the 1980′s mass tourism started to make headway in with Legian emerging as the place to be and Seminyak the next in line. In those days there were cell phones, internet, ATM machines. Cashing travelers check could take 30 minutes and ‘poste restante‘ was a popular service. Expats living in the Kuta / Legian area would often frequent the Goa Cafe located on Jl. Legian. People said that if you needed to contact another expat, you could leeve a note or be reasonably confident that person would show up there sometime the same day.
The first surfers in Bali enjoyed the beach breaks of Kuta, but since the 1970′s adventurous people have been discovering better breaks on the southern outcrop known as the Bukit (hill). Famous names such as Uluwatu, Padang Padang and Bingin challlenge the world’s best and in the 21st Century, Jimbaran Bay and the Bukit are exploding with development. One suspects that with the completion of the Kusamba bypass connecting Tohpati (east Denpasar) with East Bali, the area around Candi Dasa could be the next boom town in Bali.
