Travel agents take advantage of Bali's traditional dancers
Travel agents take advantage of Bali's traditional dancers
By T. Sima Gunawan
SANUR, Bali (JP): The tourists clapped their hands when the dance ended. They were apparently impressed with what they had just watched, the fabulous Kecak dance, one of the most popular and unique of Bali's traditional dances.
Tourists do not mind spending huge sums of money on a Kecak performance. A group of Japanese tourists paid their travel agent US$20 per person for the show in Batubulan. The fee included transportation from their hotel in Ubud to Batubulan and vice versa. Ubud is a 30-minute drive from Batubulan.
The Japanese apparently did not know that they could buy the tickets in Batubulan for Rp 7,000 ($3.00) nor that travel agents collect large discounts from show managers.
Ketut Birawan, manager of the Kecak show mentioned above, said he gives travel agents a 50-percent discount.
"There are many dance groups in this area. Competition is tight. If we don't give them a 50-percent discount, they'll bring the tourists to another place, where they can get a lower price," he told The Jakarta Post.
In addition, Ketut has to give Rp 500 to the guides for each tourist he or she brings in.
Ketut's dance group is called the Banjar Sasih group because the dancers are from Banjar Sasih. Ketut said that in Batubulan village alone there are three Kecak dance groups, four Legong dance groups and four Barong dance groups.
Even though travel agents make a lot of money and receive large discounts for the tickets, they refuse to pay in cash. They give vouchers which show managers can cash in monthly.
"However, some travel agents play a dirty game. It may take up to three months before we can collect the money. There is even a travel agent which has refused to pay after a year and a half," Ketut said.
He said the travel agent, whose clients are mostly Italians, owes him around Rp 2 million ($870).
An executive of the Indonesian Travel Agents Association (Asita) admits that there are travel agents which are not professional.
Al Purwa, deputy chairman of the Bali chapter of the association, said, however, that it cannot take action against delinquent travel agents without official complaints from the victims.
There are about 180 travel agents in Bali and 140 of them are members of the association.
Purwa acknowledges that it is common for travel agents to get a 50-percent discount for the tickets.
"They give us the discount. We never ask for it," Al Purwa told the Post.
He said he knew nothing about the tour guides who asked for commissions from dance show managers.
Travel agents and their guides ask for commissions or special discounts not only from show managements, but from hotels, restaurants and art shops. As hotels, restaurants and dance groups have fixed prices, tourists do not suffer. But they often have to pay more for items in art shops which do not have fixed prices.
Nyoman Jabud, owner of the Kayangan Art Shop in Batubulan, told the Post that he has to increase the price if the travel agent or the guide who brings in tourists to his shop asks for a commission.
"Some of them ask for a 30-percent commission, but I can give them 10 percent at the most," he said.
"But I don't depend on travel agents. Most of my customers come here on their own," he added.
Art shops are scattered everywhere in Bali. Tourists can go shopping at any time and any place. They can also easily find hotels and restaurants. But Balinese traditional dances are performed at certain times and certain places only. As a result, most of the spectators who see the dances come through travel agents.
Bali is a favorite tourist destination. Many have generated a lot of money from the robust tourism industry. Among them are hotels, restaurants, art shops and travel agents. But apparently not the dancers.