Select a destination in the Pacific Asia region as defined in Topic 1. The scale of the destination could be at the nation level, e.g. Vietnam or Fiji or it could be a smaller destination such as a single island such as Bali or city such as Hong Kong. Research and critically analyse tourism development in this destination and report on the following:

• briefly describe the physical and human geography
• critically analyse the pattern of tourism flows to present day
• identify three to four (3–4) factors that have influenced tourism development on this destination – these could include issues such as available infrastructure; appealing natural attractions; political stability; health & safety; natural disasters, poverty, etc.

Finally, discuss two (2) implications for the future of tourism at this destination – these could include challenges such as climate change and rising sea levels, continued political unrest, issue of peak oil and/or positive factors such as sustainable tourism practices or opening of new tourism markets.

Executive Summary 

Bali is an Island in Indonesia with majority of the Island relying primarily on local tourism industry. The major tourism attractions in the Hinduism dominated island include the incredible possibility of eco-tourism, rich-artistic culture, beautiful beaches, and music representing local culture. Achieving a consistent growth in tourism for decades, economy in Bali depends significantly on the growth as it is the primary industry and employment source in the area. While the tourism industry in Bali has experienced a near constant growth, it has also experienced slowdowns and decay in tourist numbers for many key factors of influence including – terrorism threats, fluctuating exchange rates, and economy strength of other countries. Going forward, the tourism industry of Bali is expected to face major implications based on the way local government and society handles the factors of sustainable development and climate change. 

Introduction

In the contemporary global economy, tourism is one of the biggest industries in the world. For a tourism destination, the trends influencing tourism can contribute greatly to the local economy and developments by bringing in investments, money, and employment opportunities (Vickers, 2013). In the province of Indonesia, Bali is one of the biggest tourism destinations in Asia-Pacific region known for its rich culture, beaches and beautiful environment ranging from rainforests to biodiverse marine (Howe, 2006). In the local economy of Bali, tourism activities have a major contribution as every year millions of people visit Bali for tourism purposes. In this paper, the present state of Bali as a tourism destination is assessed along with the factors influencing the industry. In addition to this, current trends are evaluated to identify future implications of growing challenges for the tourism destination. 

Major Findings 

2.1 State of physical and human geography

As a tourism destination, Bali has its major attractions divided into its geography and culture. From the geographical perspective, Bali attracts tourists for its beautiful beaches, ecotourism supporting geography, and marine biodiversity. These geographical aspects of Bali appeals to the tourists and helps the tourism industry of Bali to grow. From the human perspective, Bali has a total population of 4.2 million people as of 2012 census data (Erviani, 2012). Majority of the local residents are Hindus, which is very different from the rest of Indonesia where Hindus are a minority with over 83% Hindus and about 13% Muslims resident (Badan Pusat Statistik , 2017). 

2.2 Patterns of tourism 

Tourism in Bali has experienced an unprecedented level of growth since late 1980s with the destination being famous on global scale for its culture, art forms, beaches and ecotourism opportunities (Vickers, 2013). A wide majority of tourists coming to Bali come from Australia and China respectively. Out of the appropriately 3.5 million tourists visiting Bali in 2016, Australia and China contributed to about two million tourists (Gebicki, 2017). The Bank Indonesia conducted a survey in 2013 to evaluate profile of tourism in Bali and concluded that about 34.5% of international tourists belong to upper-middle class with spending ranging between $1,286 and $5,592. This group of tourists was dominated by tourists from countries like Australia, Germany, United States and France (Atmodjo, 2013). About 30% of all tourists coming to Bali belong to middle-class and they spend on average between $662 and $1,285 (Atmodjo, 2013).

(Some parts of the solution has been blurred due to privacy protection policy)