Bali. Country Profile and Tourism

Table of contents

1. Introduction

2. Country Profile

3. Development of tourism

4. Problems and effects
4.1 Internal problems
4.2 External problems

5. Strategies

6. Conclusion

Bibliography

Appendix

1. Introduction

Bali is primarily associated with a paradise consisting of white beaches, romantic sunsets, rice fields and a fascinating culture with lots of temples. Every year this image attracts a great number of tourists who are interested in discovering the island and who want to experience Bali’s culture. When tourism in Bali started to develop in the 1970s, it was first a positive effect on the island’s economical situation (increased employment for example); however, the fact that tourism exploded without proper planning within a short period of time leads now to great internal problems.^[1] Since the terrorist bombing attacks in October 2002, Bali moved more into the limelight and has now not only to combat internal problems, but also external influences on its tourism industry.

The aim of this essay is to present an image of the tourist destination “Bali”, an Indonesian island. First, a short country profile will be presented to help the reader to get an idea of the island. Chapter three gives a short survey of the tourism development on Bali so that the current state of affairs concerning the actual situation in tourism is clear. The case study then moves on to deal with internal and external problems and their effects on the island. The next chapter reports on strategies that the Bali government pursues in order to struggle with the problems. Finally, chapter six analyses critically the situation leading to a conclusion.

2. Country Profile

How the maps of Bali (figure 1, appendix page 13) illustrate, the island is part of the Republic of Indonesia located in the Pacific Ocean. The “Bali Handbook” by Bill Dalton underlines that Bali is one of the smallest yet most visited of Indonesia's main islands; it covers an extend of 5.620 km² and approximately 18% of the island’s arable land is covered in rice fields. The island stretches 135 km from east to west and 90 km from north to south.

Climate. The fact that Bali lies about 8 degrees south of the equator, gives rise to a typical tropical climate with high humidity of about 75%. Bali’s climate is divided into two seasons: the rainy season from October to April and the dry season from May to September. The average temperature on Bali amounts to 26 degrees throughout the whole year.^[2]

Population. According to “Lonely Planet”, 95% of the three million inhabitants are ethnically Balinese today. Concerning the religion, around 95% of the Bali population are Balinese Hindu, the rest are Muslim and Christian minorities. About 400.000 people are living in the capital Denpasar. The two official languages are English (because of the tourism industry) and Indonesian.^[3] However, Balinese and Bahasa Indonesia are the most widely spoken languages on the island; many inhabitants are bilingual.^[4]

Economy. In accordance with the “DAC – List of Aid Recipients” from the OECD, Indonesia belongs to the category of the LICs (Low Income Countries).^[5] Bali’s industry is characterized by tourism, textile and handicrafts; these sectors offer about 300.000 jobs. The island’s exports have been increasing by around 15% per year to over US$ 400 million. Around 45% of the total income from exports are part of textiles and garments and 22% are wood products like furniture, statues or other handicraft; silver work contributes about 4,65%. Other significant exports are agriculture products like rice, coffee, tea or tobacco and fishing products. The main buyers of Bali export goods are the US and Europe (each 38%) and Japan (9%).^[6]

The tourism industry is a considerable aspect concerning the economy on Bali with regard to accommodations, meals and services as well as a market for Balinese arts and crafts for tourists.^[7] Besides, it should not be forgotten that tourism also creates a multitude of niches in the informal sector (masseurs on the beach, taxi drivers,…).^[8] To sum it up it can be said that tourism is now one of the major sources of income and employment on the island and that it brings benefits to the national and local economies.

3. Development of tourism on Bali

According to the website http://www.american.edu/TED/balitour.htm, the year 1969 was the starting point for mass tourism in Bali. This development in tourism was made possible thanks to the construction of the new “Ngurah Rai International Airport” which allows the landing of foreign flights directly on the island. Three years later, the government of Indonesia passed the “Master Plan for the Development of Tourism in Bali”. The aim of this concept was to make the island a model of future tourism development in the rest of the country. Figure 2: “Tourist visitors in Kuta (1972-1980)” (appendix page 14) - Kuta is one of the main tourist locations of Bali close to the airport - shows how tourism exploded in these eight years. The number of visitors increased almost tenfold from 1972 to 1980.^[9] Against this background, the Balinese government made the protection of the Balinese community against mass tourism a priority of the “Master Plan”. It advocated that an isolated tourist resort should be built. As a consequence, the Bali Tourist Development Corporation was created by the government in order to build a luxury resort at Nusa Dua.^[10]

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^[1] cf. http://www.american.edu/TED/balitour.htm (as of: 30th October 2004)

^[2] cf. http://balix.com/handbook/index.html (as of: 25th October 2004)

^[3] cf. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/south_east_asia/bali/index.htm (as of: 10th October 2004)

^[4] cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali (as of: 10th October 2004)

^[5] cf. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/35/9/2488552.pdf (as of: 2nd November 2004)

^[6] cf. http://www.baliguide.com/geography.html (as of: 11th October 2004)

^[7] cf. http://www.all-bali.com/economy.html (as of: 11th October 2004)

^[8] cf. McCarthy, Are sweet dreams made of this?, 1994, p.26 foll.

^[9] cf. http://www.american.edu/TED/balitour.htm (as of: 30th October 2004)

^[10] cf. McCarthy, Are sweet dreams made of this?, 1994, p.14 foll.