BALI — beyond just booze + beach clubs
Bali is known as the Ibiza or Mallorca of the southern hemisphere. Beach clubs upon more beach clubs, along with bars and restaurants litter the streets. But have you ever really taken in the utter euphoria and natural beauty of the island.
Escape the facade, and immerse yourself in the rich natural wonders!!!!
70% of Bali’s economy is supported by the tourism sector, which is globally one of the fastest-growing industries heavily increasing carbon dioxide emissions and the destruction of the environment. To put it simply Bali cannot sustain its current model of tourism. The exploitation of natural resources to support tourists booze fix tanning holiday cannot live on without collapsing the islands precious ecosystem.
So how does Bali save its magical beauty? ECOTOURISM
This concept allows for visitors to explore what unique places have to offer, whilst also acting in a manner that intends to cherish and protect the environment for future generations to come.
And this whole notion begins with targeting the tourist!!!
A research study published by MDPI, aimed to uncover the attributes of potential tourists whom would have a higher motivation to participate in ecotourism activities in Bali. As well as to then incorporate opportunities for implementing REDD+ goals into the ecotourism market.
REDD+ is a global response that seeks to reduce emission from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, like Bali, Indonesia. By combining REDD+ initiatives and attracting conscious tourists ecotourism will flourish in Bali, and more importantly protect the environment (figure 1)
So how did they do this?
Data was collected through surveys at 2 of Bali’s major ecotourism sites (Figure 2): Sacred Monkey Forest (Northern region) and Uluwatu Temple (Southern region). The survey was is two languages: English and Bahasa Indonesian (local tongue), to make it more accessible.
Questions asked related to tourists:
- Behaviour
- Motivations + attitudes
- Visitor experience
And respondents were asked to scale there opinion from 1–5 (with 5 being the most and 1 the least)
Overall, there was 756 questionnaires, with 54.3% women and 45.7% men all with varying demographics including age, education, nationality, companions and income. The demographic features and questionnaire responses enabled participants to be put into 4 clusters: “general tourists”, “nature-seeking responsible tourists”, “nature-cohesion seeking tourist” and “wellness seeking responsible tourists”.
It was found that “nature-seeking responsible tourists” (Cluster 2) and “wellness seeking responsible tourists” (Cluster 4) had the greatest attraction and attributes towards ecotourism.
The study characterised Cluster 2 as “European women with advanced educational backgrounds of the above master’s level with relatively high monthly income; they preferred to indulge in nature by traveling alone”. Likewise, Cluster 4 was described as “Asians who preferred to travel in groups of families, relatives, friends, and children, in a more restful fashion.” (Figure 3)
So why is this important?
This highly valuable data can enable managers of ecotourism sites to directly aim marketing ventures to both these clusters, subsequently leading to greater likelihood of increasing business traffic.
Hence, these ecotourism sites, that have the concern for the environment’s wellness at heart will continue to protect and embody REDD+ plus principles to ensure Bali’s natural beauty will last indefinitely.
Take for instance, SarinBuana Eco Lodge
It is situated in remote central Bali, which encompasses both accommodation and activities revolving around environmental virtue.
Only natural cleaning products and soaps are used on the property — no more harsh chemical!!!
The swimming pool is all natural with no chemicals — no more chlorine green hair!!!
Pure mountain water for drinking + showering — no more single use bottles!!!
Home grown organic fruit and vegetables — no more damaging pesticides!!!
This is only a minimal few of the changes SarinBuana Eco Lodge have adopted, there are over 50 plus eco practices they have embraced along their journey to sustainable tourism.
But no matter how small these changes are it all helps in the fight led by REDD+. Each of these modifications intends to achieve REDD+ goal of “increasing economic benefits for local communities from tourism activities while also reducing emissions through nature conservation” simultaneously.
SarinBuana Eco Lodge is just one of many new ecotourism businesses slowly taking over Bali. So the next time you think about taking a trip to this magical tropical island, actually make an effort to enjoy the natural beauty.
This starts by educating yourself on the importance of supporting ecotourism, so take a look at the links bellow to discover the true and authentic Bali.
We don’t need Ibiza or Mallorca!!!
Wanna explore Bali through the lens of ecotourism, take a look a these places:
Once again, hope you enjoyed reading and found you inner calling to go to BALI
References:
- Main article: Choi G, Kim J, Sawitri M and Lee S (2020) “Ecotourism Market Segmentation in Bali, Indonesia: Opportunities for Implementing REDD+”, MDPI, 9(6):https://doi.org/10.3390/land9060186
- SarinBuana Eco Lodge — https://www.baliecolodge.com/
- REDD+ Indonesia plan -https://redd.unfccc.int/files/indonesia_redd__national_strategy_2021-2030.pdf
