balinews Though the Bali provincial administration has set an ambitious target of 30 million foreign-tourist arrivals by 2029, tourism experts on Thursday questioned whether the island’s infrastructure could accomodate such a large number of visitors. Ngurah Wijaya, chairman of the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Tourism Businesses Association (GIPI), reminded the administration not to focus only on the number of tourists, but to ensure the tourism industry was developed in a sustainable way. “We shouldn’t turn the island into a destination for mass tourism. We need to be build more quality tourism in order to attract only quality tourists.” He said Bali should develop its tourism in a sustainable way to ensure the island’s tourist infrastructure was able to cope with the surge in visitors, as well as the increasing population. Welcoming more tourists meant the island needed to supply more water and electricity, and provide better facilities and infrastructure, he added. Bagus Sudibya, an advisor of the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Tour and Travel Agents Association (Asita), shared similar concerns about the sustainability of tourism development. To measure the “carrying capacity” of a tourist destination, he said, one needed to compare geographic size with the existing population. In the case of Bali, the island has a land area of 5,659 square kilometers and a total population of approximately 4.2 million. Experts question Bali’s ambitious tourist target | The Jakarta Post
