Balinese call for review of tourism policy
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali
Two prominent Balinese are calling for a review of Bali's tourism policy, saying the Oct. 12 blasts should serve as a cause to take stock of today's realities on the island.
Senior Udayana University lecturer Luh Ketut Suryani and the chief editor of prominent local magazine Sarad, I Ketut Sumarta. pointed out that the tragedy had proven that tourism was a vulnerable business with no guarantee of its sustainability.
The Balinese people began to gradually abandon their agrarian lives when they discovered that tourism brought quick and easy money. They sold their land on the back of a major wave of outside investment. Farmland was converted into hotels, resorts, souvenir shops and other tourism-related developments. Many people then abandoned their old jobs and entered the informal sector, the service sector or took up employment in hotels and shops, Suryani said.
"The tourism business has proved attractive to our people as they can earn money relatively easily, but they just don't realize that tourism will not last forever. It's a shame, the land here no longer belongs to the Balinese. Check the hotels and resorts, how many belong to the Balinese and how many Balinese are employed in them?" said Suryani.
"In the first place, we should not let tourism become our false prophet and tempt our people to abandon agriculture or their crafts. There are still other areas that can be managed and improved," Suryani added.
There have been repeated catastrophes that proved the vulnerability of tourism, such as in the 1990's when the Gulf War erupted, the Japanese government warning its citizens against traveling to Bali after Japanese tourists suffered diarrhea while vacationing on the island, as well as the prolonged economic upheaval in the country, Suryani recalled.
The bombings should be seen as another major incident similar to the mass killings (of followers of the Indonesian Communist Party) in 1965 or when Mount Agung erupted in 1963. Suryani said that many people had cried then, asking why God kept punishing them.
"Who could have known that the lava from Mount Agung would make our land so fertile and beautiful, and that resorts and hotels would be built on it," she said.
"We will never know what God means by allowing this bombing. Maybe we have to think about what we have done to this land by allowing it to fall victim to exploitative tourism."
Meanwhile, Sumarta said the bombing should serve to make the Balinese people and local government aware of the new reality, and that they should not rely excessively on tourism. He added that a clear and comprehensive concept for tourism development must be drawn up by the local government, public representatives and Hindu religious figures.
"There should be a zoning system to regulate which parts of Bali are to be used for tourism, which are for environmental conservation and which are for cultural preservation. This kind of progress can only be achieved if everybody sits down, talks and works it out," he stressed.
In the short term, however, both Suryani and Sumatra supported the campaign to lure people to come back and spend their money in Bali.
"But please don't drastically cut the charges and prices. If we think we have quality services and products, why sell them cheap?" Suryani asked.
Meanwhile, Yunita Hidayatullah, a senior marketing officer at the Raddin Hotel in Sanur, admitted that the hotel management had initially decided against offering special rates after the bombings because of the hotel's high operating costs. However, after closely observing the tight competition among hotels and resorts, the management finally went along with the pricing policies being applied by the other hotels.
The five-star Raddin, like most of its competitors, has recorded a 50 percent drop in its occupancy rate since Oct. 12.
"This is an emergency and the special rates are just an interim policy. We need to survive. At the latest, we will reinstate our normal rates in March, 2003," Yunita said.
The Raddin is offering a deluxe room for Rp 400,000 compared to Rp 495,000 (US$49.5) prior to Oct. 12.
Yunita strongly supported the campaign to encourage people to come to Bali to help the island's economic recovery, which is essential not just for the big hotels but also the many people who rely on tourism, from small-scale food vendors to souvenirs traders.
"I am still optimistic we can get through this as tourists from the German-speaking countries, Poland and Russia are still coming here," Yunita said.
Souvenir trader Elsie Budyatna shared Yunita's optimism, saying people were still coming and shopping in her gallery, located on Jl. Bypass Ngurah Rai, to buy handicrafts and clothes. There had been a drop in her takings, but she believed the situation would return to normal before long.
"I've been through riots and all kinds of situations here. We always survive," said Elsie, who hails originally from Pekanbaru, Riau.