Bali is back in the discussion among international tourists after a number of popular destinations on the Island of the Gods were included in the list of places considered "overrated" by some foreign tourists.
Canggu, Seminyak, Ubud to Tegalalang are some areas that are no longer in line with the expectations of tourists who come.
The assessment appears in a Yahoo Finance report that reviews global tourist sentiment towards a number of world tourist destinations.
However, according to Bali tourism observers, the criticism does not necessarily mean that Bali is losing its appeal as a world-class destination.
Bali tourism observer, Giostanovlatto, assessed that what Bali is currently facing is not a crisis of charm, but a crisis of governance due to tourism growth that has taken place much faster than the readiness of infrastructure and management.
"Bali's problem today is not because tourists are no longer interested. Quite the contrary, too many people want to come to Bali at the same time, while the capacity of roads, transportation, spatial planning, and public services has not developed as fast as the growth of tourists," said Giostanov to VOI, Tuesday, June 17.
According to him, the phenomenon is most visible in the Canggu area which in the last decade has changed from a quiet coastal village to a new center of economic and tourism activities in South Bali.
The growth of villas, restaurants, beach clubs, and digital workspaces is very fast, but it is not followed by adequate infrastructure improvements.
As a result, traffic jams that used to only occur during the holiday season are now part of daily routines.
Similar conditions have also begun to be felt in a number of other tourist areas such as Seminyak and Ubud.
Giostanov assessed that so far the success of Bali tourism has been measured too often based on the number of tourist visits. In fact, a more important indicator is the quality of the tourist experience and the comfort of local people.
"We have celebrated the number of tourist arrivals for too long without being serious enough to calculate the environmental carrying capacity, road capacity, quality of public spaces, and the ability of local people to continue to live comfortably in their own areas," he said.
He added that the emergence of the perception that Bali is beginning to lose its authenticity is actually inseparable from the increasing commercialization of tourist areas that were previously known to have a strong cultural identity.
Ubud, for example, still has a rich cultural life, but the high demand for tourism has made many cultural experiences now come in the form of more structured and commercial tourist products.
However, Giostanov emphasized that Bali still has strengths that are difficult to match with other destinations in the Asia-Pacific region.
"Bali has not lost its magic. What is being tested is the ability of the government and all stakeholders to manage that success sustainably. If the problems of congestion, spatial planning, environment, and destination quality are not immediately improved, then criticism about Bali which is considered overrated will appear more frequently," he said.
According to him, it is time for Bali to shift from the paradigm of chasing the quantity of tourists to the development of tourism that is more qualified, sustainable, and provides balanced benefits for tourists and local communities.
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