Cultural Tourism in the Perspective of Cross-Cultural Communication: Bali at a Crossroads (2022–2025)

Abstract

Bali has long been recognized as one of the world's leading cultural tourism destinations, attracting millions of international visitors annually through its rich cultural heritage, traditional arts, religious practices, and unique social values. However, the rapid expansion of global tourism, digital transformation, and increasing cultural exchanges have placed Bali in a complex position where economic development, cultural preservation, and intercultural interaction intersect. This study aims to examine the development of cultural tourism research from a cross-cultural communication perspective by employing a bibliometric approach to publications published between 2022 and 2025. Data were collected from 125 scholarly publications indexed in major academic databases using keywords related to cultural tourism, intercultural communication, cultural sustainability, and Bali tourism. The analysis focused on publication trends, thematic development, keyword co-occurrence, and emerging research directions. The findings reveal a significant increase in research output during the study period, with cultural sustainability (28%), cross-cultural communication (24%), community-based tourism (17.6%), overtourism (16%), and digital tourism (14.4%) emerging as dominant themes. The results suggest that Bali currently stands at a critical crossroads between preserving its cultural identity and responding to the demands of a highly competitive global tourism industry. The study highlights the growing importance of intercultural communication as a strategic mechanism for balancing cultural preservation, tourism development, and sustainable destination management. Furthermore, the findings indicate that future research is likely to focus on digital communication, Generation Z tourist behavior, smart tourism, cultural diplomacy, and sustainable cultural tourism governance.