The last -- or the lost -- paradise: The Balinese tourism paradox

The last -- or the lost -- paradise: The Balinese tourism paradox

I Ketut Surya Diarta, Manoa, United States

Almost all tourists whom I met in Hawaii knew or at least had
heard about Bali. Most of them wanted to go to Bali because they
knew Bali as one of the most popular tourist destinations in the
world. Interestingly, the tourists who had come to Bali, came
back again, and again. They said that Bali was truly paradise. In
fact, they wanted to die in Bali, in Paradise.

Natural beauty, the hospitality of the people, the
traditional ceremonies, arts, music and dances, the sun, sea and
surf, the mountains and paddy fields and many more, are some of
the reasons they love Bali. The Bali Tourism Authority reported
average annual tourist arrivals of more than 1.35 million over
the last three years.

Unlike Hawaii, where the native people are not involved or do
not have access to the tourism industry, in Bali 80 percent of
the tourism industry is managed by the local people by what we
call community-based tourism. Although tourism contributed 63.90
percent of Bali's total income (Gross Regional Domestic Product)
last year, Bali is facing a major threat mainly from the
sociocultural impacts of tourism. The impacts of tourism
described in this article relate to its effect on the Balinese
people and Balinese culture such as standardization, the loss of
authenticity and staged authenticity, and adaptation to the
demands of tourists.

Balinese tourism, unlike Hawaii for example, is built based on
cultural capital, meaning we use culture as the main asset to
develop our tourism industry. On one hand, this concept is great
as a means to preserve our culture and to reap economic gains
from the tourism industry.

On the other hand, as an open society Balinese people are
affected by other cultures brought in by the tourists. The impact
arises when tourism brings about changes in the value system and
behavior that threatens the indigenous values and culture.

Bali is known as paradise island not because you can do
anything there (for example enjoy illicit sex, drugs, or the
casino) but because of its religious activities held almost every
day. Bali has thousands of temples and thousands of ceremonies
all year round. Naturally it is supported by exotic tourist spots
such as white sand beach, lakes, mountains and natural beauty.
Tourism can affect these rituals by placing a "price tag" on
them.

The economic gains from tourism sometimes influence the local
people, who make their rituals a commodity. At a glance, there is
nothing wrong with this, but in the long term the Balinese people
will lose their identity as Balinese. Religious rituals, ethnic
rites and traditional arts will be changed based on tourists'
expectations, not based on the standards of the ritual itself.
This will change our society into a new society with new values.
If this is not controlled I believe that the last paradise will
soon become the lost paradise.

As a tourist destination, what we can see in Bali nowadays is
that there are many changes in order to satisfy tourists' wishes.
Not only food and drink must be made to meet the tourists' desire
for the new and unfamiliar, but also our accommodation, landscape
and our arts festival. In short, we have to fulfill the tourists'
desires to satisfy them. As a native of Bali I feel not all
tourists come to Bali because of our high quality service
standards, but they want to see the uniqueness of Bali, Bali as
it is, not the Bali that the tourists want it to be. I think if
we permit this to continue Bali will be the "paradise remade", as
Elizabeth Buck observed in her book Paradise Remade: The Politics
of Culture and History in Hawaii.

The next impact is on the cultural identity and authenticity.
Balinese people sometimes adapt their culture (and their life
style and traditional institutions) to conform to tourist needs.
Actually our native culture has no "business" with tourism.

What does it mean? It is true that our culture is open, that's
why we welcome tourists. But what we will increasingly see in
Bali is a "shadow" of paradise. The native culture of the
Balinese people is Hindu, so if you want to see native Bali don't
go to the most popular tourist spots like Kuta Beach (almost the
same as Waikiki or Miami Beach), or resort areas like Nusa Dua
and Jimbaran, but go to the traditional sites like Trunyan,
Tenganan, Ubud, Batuan, Sukawati, Gianyar or Kamasan.

If we always strive to satisfy what tourists need, I believe
will never be able to satisfy them, because as human beings we
always need something new. One of my colleagues at Udayana
University in Bali who teaches the sociology of tourism used the
term the "Balinese Tourism Paradox". He said If we let this kind
of development continue Bali will kill itself.

If we want to be the most popular and most attractive tourism
destination, we don't have to be what the tourists want us to be.
Making the culture a commodity, standardization, loss of identity
and authenticity are examples of the sociocultural impacts of
tourism on Bali. If we don't protect ourselves it will kill our
native culture.

The writer, who is studying at the Tourism Sociology
Department of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, United
States, is a lecturer of socioeconomics at Udayana University,
Denpasar