Hawkers, vendors, amateur guides, tourist nuisances

Hawkers, vendors, amateur guides, tourist nuisances

By Putu Wirata

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Tourism is the major economic backbone of
Bali, but visitors have often complained of being annoyed by
hawkers, amateur guides and other local vendors in the street
while visiting cultural and religious sites on this resort
island.

Near the lake of Batur in Kintamani, one of the island's
famous volcanic sites, hundreds of hawkers chase visitors.

They offer a wide variety of handicrafts, souvenirs, textiles,
food and fruit.

At other sites, like the Besakih temple in Karang Asem, Ubud,
Kuta, visitors are often annoyed by vendors.

"At Besakih temple, local teenagers often blackmail foreign
visitors," commented a tour guide from Denpasar. He once
accompanied a French visitor to the temple. In front of the
temple, they were prevented from entering the place of worship.

In a corner of the temple, some boys waved their hands and
called visitors over to them.

"We can guide you to the most sacred place pedharman, the
ancestors' worship place," said a boy showing the visitor down a
narrow and winding path. The boy forced the visitor to give him
Rp 200,000.

"They threatened to leave the visitor alone in the temple,"
the guide said.

A few years ago, several prominent people in Kintamani
established Yayasan Bintang Danu (the Bintang Danu Foundation)
which aims at educating locals on how to properly serve and treat
domestic and foreign visitors.

"They shouldn't force guests to buy their souvenirs. If they
like the goods they will buy them," said the guide.

The guide said he was embarrassed to see his peers improperly
treating visitors to the island. "The worst thing is they often
cheat foreigners," he said.

They usually offer the guests a wide range of handicrafts,
garments and other souvenirs, mostly of good quality.

Citing an example, a vendor offered a wood statue for Rp
400,000. The guest bargained the price down to only Rp 40,000.

"Don't be happy. You may be cheated by the seller who changes
it to a lower quality one," he said.

In Besakih, sellers of salak Bali (snake fruit) have
frequently tricked buyers.

The Bali chapter of the Indonesian Travel Agent Association
have complained to the local government. The association's
members have temporarily stopped visiting several spots in Bali,
including Batur Lake in Kintamani, in strong protest over
improper business practices and inappropriate behavior of local
vendors and guides.

Wayan Ariawan, a local lawyer, sees this phenomenon as a
"counter attack" launched by local residents in some famous
tourist destinations in Bali.

"It is merely caused by social jealousy and a wide social and
economic gap between locals, officials of tourist-related
industries and the bureaucrats," Wayan explained.

Wayan said professional travel agencies generate quite a lot
of profit from promoting Balinese destinations, while the locals
gain almost nothing from the tourism.

"Most locals have inadequate education to cope with the rapid
development in tourism. They have been left behind by the
government and private sectors," Wayan said.

All agencies affiliated with tourism must involve the locals,
he said. They can provide short courses on foreign languages,
hotels and tourism, and any activities which are related to
tourism, he said.

"Educating the local community will certainly take quite a
long time," Wayan said.

But if the government and all businesses in the tourism sector
ignore the potential of the local community, the future of
Balinese tourism will be bleak as many more locals will be
disappointed and angry at the visitors, he said.