The development of  “10 New Bali’s” by the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism is being put forth as a measure to “save” the Island of Bali and for this reason the new destination should not be viewed as competitors.

Quoted by Balipost.com, the Deputy Minister in charge of Market Development, I Gde Pitana, told a Forum on Development Planning held on Thursday, April 12, 2018, at the office of Bali’s Governor that the promotion of new destinations beyond Bali will give the Island of Bali the opportunity to develop into a quality tourism product. “Bali can’t possibly handle 100 million international tourists. Where do we bring them? (We bring them) to areas beyond Bali so Bali can have a chance become a quality destination,” said Pitana.

According to Pitana, Bali will be able to “filter” visitors to allow only quality tourists. The Deputy Minister said filtering can be achieved through the mechanisms of the tourism product, marketing tactics and pricing.

Continuing, Pitana said that by developing starred hotels that, for instance, cost Rp. 25 million per night then only quality tourists will come. Adding: “If we develop cheap products that cost only Rp. 100,000 a night, mass tourism will be the result. Which will we choose?”

Pitana said Bali has the opportunity to become the Singapore of Indonesia with guests who shop and stay in starred hotels. “This is the way we can save Bali, its culture, nature, environment and its people. When we develop 10 destinations beyond Bali, the support to enhance Bali will grow to the greatest extent,” said Pitana.

At the same time, Pitana warned, Bali still confronts a number of basic problems. These include the concentration of tourism in the southern parts of the Island requiring a strategy to achieve a more equitable distribution of tourism development to other parts of Bali. Pitana also cited a problem of “over expectation” among visitors who can be disappointed when Bali does not live up to its reputation. Another problem are leakages in the benefits of Bali’s tourism economy that results from the large number of non-Balinese and foreign workers prompted to relocate to Bali, usurping jobs and opportunities not taken up by native Balinese.

Pitana added: “Don’t blame the outsiders. Just ask yourselves, are we ready to handle tourism? We need to prepare Bali’s manpower to become managers, connoisseurs, and the developers of tourism in Bali.”

Source: http://www.balidiscovery.com/messages/message.asp?Id=18783