ABSTRACT
The rise of Indian tourists in Southeast Asia raises new perspectives on travel choices and destination attractions in Asia. Today Indian tourism is revitalizing bonds established many centuries ago. This chapter examines Indian tourism in Bali in order to question the ‘exotic-difference’ paradigm and its applicability to Asians on tour. In this regard, the chapter explores Indian tourists as a case where affinity appears as a key factor in the practices of Indian tourists. An understanding of the choices Indian tourists make in terms of attractions allows us to conceive an alternative view to the exotic-attraction paradigm. Accordingly, the chapter considers specific choices of Indian tourists in Bali as a way to think about consumption of the familiar or shared heritage, and how this may tell us about tourism experiences that deviate from the more common cases involving unique or different experiences. To date, Bali has been a popular destination for Australians, Americans and Europeans. A recent increase in the number of Hindu Indians traveling to the island, however, alerts us to the different dynamics and encounters. As we shall see, for the Indian visitor the exotic paradigm is less relevant than a sense of ‘cultural affinity,’ which occurs between the visitor and the travel destination.
