JAKARTA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- TripAdvisor, an influential travel reviewer website, has picked Indonesia's resort island of Bali as the world's best destination this year.
The latest international prestigious recognition came from a recent TripAdvisor's Travelers Choice polling on ten best destinations in the world.
"Bali now has topped global cities which have long been recognized as the most favorite destinations," Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said Wednesday in response to the award on Bali.
This result strengthens Indonesia's confidence to speed up the development in tourism, which has been set as the nation's "core economy sector," he added.
Bali was also among TripAdvisor's ten best destinations in the Asian region, with Lombok, a nearby destination, ranking No. 9.
Janice Lee Fang, TripAdvisor communications director, said the results from the U.S.-based website indicate that Bali has become travelers' ultimate destination throughout this year.
As tourism has been set as the nation's core business, replacing oil, gas, coal and palm oil, Indonesia is now making great efforts to develop new tourist destinations and accommodations to facilitate visitors.
The Southeast Asia's largest economy aims to receive 20 million foreign visitors and make earnings of more than 24 billion U.S. dollars from the tourism industry by 2019.
