I just arrived in Bali yesterday. It’s not my first time here but it has been a few years since my last trip. I read a lot of complaints about the over-development, traffic and dirty beaches, but compared with many other beach resorts in Asia, I think it’s still not too bad.

I am talking about the Kuta area, which many people love to hate, but if you are looking just for a beach holiday with some surfing and nightlife, it’s still good value for your money. I think that there are less touts on the street from when I was here last.

Tourism seems to be strong. I arrived with no hotel bookings and about the first three hotels I went to were all full.

The Jakarta Post reports that hotels in Denpasar had the highest occupancy rate compared to hotels in other regions in Bali.

Based on data compiled by the Bali office of the Statistic Central Agency (BPS) in March, hotels in Denpasar recorded an occupancy rate of 62.49 percent on average. Meanwhile, hotels in Karangasem regency recorded the lowest occupancy rate of 34.35 percent.

The data also shows that the average occupancy rate for the island’s star-rated hotels was 57.72 percent, a 6.73 point increase compared to the average booked in February.

“In March, star-rated hotels in every region in Bali had an increase in their occupancy rates,” Bali BPS chief Ida Komang Wisnu said.

The number of Australian tourists visiting Bali has seen a rebound recently, but the surprise increase has come from China.

The Jakarta Post reports:

In March, the number of Chinese tourists reached 21,492, a whopping 88.16 percent increase compared to the number recorded in February. The increase is expected to continue in the following months.

I spent most of last year in Beijing last year for the Olympics, and the country has undergone massive growth in its economy and spending power. Yes, there is still large amounts of poverty in rural areas, but in metropolitan areas, people are starting to make salaries which gives them larger spending power, with enough left over for domestic and overseas travel.

It is difficult for Chinese to get visas to most western countries, but it seems that Thailand and Indonesia it is not so difficult to travel to. Also, direct flight routes between mainland China and Bali are starting to open up.

With the outbreak of swine flu, I would expect Japanese tourist numbers to drop this year.