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