Tourism investment redirected to North and West Bali

Tourism investment redirected to North and West Bali

Moch.N. Kurniawan and Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post,
Denpasar/Singaraja, Bali

Tourism has been the flesh and blood of Bali's economy since the
island first opened up to outsiders in the l920s. But the fast
growing tourist-related industry and the wide development
disparity between the province's regencies have forced Bali to
redesign its tourism development plan.

Since the early l960s, the development of tourist facilities
in Bali has focused on the southern part of the island,
particularly Kuta and Nusa Dua in the Badung regency, Sanur in
the regency of Denpasar and later Ubud in the Gianyar regency.

Local and foreign investors aggressively transformed areas
along the famous beaches in Badung regency and the beautiful
terraced rice fields in Ubud into exotic holiday spots. Tourism
development also expanded to the rocky hills of Jimbaran, near
the opulent Nusa Dua holiday resort, and the crowded city of
Denpasar.

Construction of star and non-star hotels, restaurants, cafes
was out of control, covering thousands of square meters of land
in these busy tourist hubs.

I Putu Cahyanta, the head of Bali's Development Agency, said
tourism development must be evenly spread to other areas outside
of Badung, Denpasar and Gianyar, in order to prevent social,
economic and environmental problems.

To realize this plan, the Bali provincial administration has
stopped all tourist-related investment in the already crowded
southern Badung regency and Denpasar mayoralty, pushing
investment northward and eastward in an effort to distribute
tourist-related investment across the province.

"Badung and Denpasar have become crowded after several years
of massive development, and it is time to develop other regencies
in Bali," said the spokesman of the Bali Capital Investment
Coordination Board, I Ketut Suadnyana.

"The provincial administration has decided to channel more
investment to Buleleng regency in the north, Gianyar regency in
the west and Tabanan regency in the east," he said.

During the first semester of 2002, Bali attracted US$16.7
million in foreign investment and Rp 650 million in domestic
investment. Most of the new investments are to develop tourist-
related facilities.

Bali has eight developed tourist destinations, six spots
currently being developed and one that is undeveloped. Badung has
three and Denpasar one developed tourist destination, including
the beaches of Kuta and Nusa Dua in Badung, and Sanur beach in
Denpasar.

Gianyar boasts several handicraft centers, including
silversmith centers in Celuk and Batubulan, and a woodcraft
center in Sukawati.

Tabanan is home to Tanah Lot temple, which is in danger
because of continuing erosion separating it from mainland Bali.

Separately interviewed, the head of the Buleleng Development
Planning Board, I Nyoman Yasa, said the regency was ready to
receive new investment for tourist-related projects.

"We have set aside western and eastern parts of Buleleng to be
further developed into tourist resorts. As for the central part,
we will stop further investment in the Lovina beach area," he
said.

"Buleleng has good coverage of electricity and telephone lines
to accommodate the needs of new investors," he added.

Yasa said Buleleng had spent some Rp 4 billion developing the
660-meter Lt. Col. Wisnu airstrip in the western district of
Gerokgak, some 60 kilometers west of Singaraja, to attract more
tourists to the largest regency in Bali.

In addition to Lovina, Buleleng has tremendous tourist
potential. In Gerogak and Pemuteran, a number of exclusive
resorts such as the Matahari Beach Hotel and the Menjangan Resort
have become fresh alternatives to the hustle and bustle of Kuta.
The area also boasts pristine diving spots in waters that are
home to thousands of marine species.

But compared to Badung and Denpasar, Bali's other regencies
are truly underdeveloped.

Statistics from 2000 show that Badung and Denpasar are home to
the lion's share of tourist facilities in Bali. Of 117 star-rated
hotels, 22 are in Denpasar with 3,003 rooms and 75 are in Badung
with 13,883 rooms.

There are seven star-rated hotels with 278 rooms in Gianyar
and four star-rated hotels with 171 rooms in Buleleng, while
Tabanan has two star-rated hotels with 305 rooms. Another regency
that has star-rated hotels is Karanga Asem in the east, with
seven hotels and 293 rooms. The regencies of Bangli, Jembrana and
Klungkung have no star-rated hotels.

I Gde Pitana, the head of Bali's Tourism Office, said that
starting in 2001, Bali began to implement a more eco-friendly and
sustainable tourism development.

In some parts of Bali, construction of tourist facilities has
exceeded the island's carrying capacity, causing a number of
environmental problems.

"Uneven tourist development also creates a wide economic
disparity and profit inequity among the regencies," said Pitana
during his recent inauguration as a professor at the University
of Udayana in Jimbaran.

The tourist-related industry generated about Rp 421.85 billion
in revenue for Bali in 2001, and absorbs about 38 percent of the
province's human resources. But since most facilities are built
in Badung, that regency will receive more tax revenue than other
regencies. In 2001, Badung received Rp 314 billion in tax
revenue, compared to Bangli (which is located next to Badung
regency) with Rp 0.42 billion in tax revenue.

"Spreading tourist-related investment to underdeveloped
regencies will more or less narrow the wide gap between the rich
and poor regencies, and will also create new job opportunities as
well as protect the beauty of Bali from environmental disaster,"
he said.