Balinese hope construction freeze can tame tourism

This photo taken on October 22, 2024 shows foreign tourists enjoying a beach in Canggu, Badung regency on Bali island. Agence France-Presse

BADUNG, Indonesia — On Indonesia’s beach-fringed resort island of Bali, fed-up locals want to slow the mass tourism that is their biggest money earner — hoping a plan to freeze hotel-building can restore some calm.

Anxious about runaway tourism, many Balinese yearn for a more tranquil yesteryear, much like residents in European hotspots Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca or Venice.

In response, Indonesian authorities recently announced plans — yet to be confirmed by the new government — for a two-year moratorium on building hotels, villas and nightclubs.

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Before foreign surfers discovered its waves decades ago, Canggu was a quiet, southern Balinese beachside village perched on the Indian Ocean and dotted with rice paddy fields.

Now, it bristles with hotels and lodgings, its streets clogged with cars, scooters and trucks.

Locals like 23-year-old Kadek Candrawati fear the environment is taking second place.

“Canggu is now busier… its tranquillity and greenery are gradually disappearing,” said Kadek, who owns a motorcycle rental service that earns her seven million rupiah ($453) monthly.

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“The government and the community need to work together to ensure that Bali stays green, sustainable, and the local culture is preserved,” she told AFP.

“I hope that Bali’s tourism can continue to grow, while maintaining a balance between development and the environment.”

‘New Singapore’

Bali’s lush canvas of rainforests, paddies and surf beaches that host luxury resorts and backpacker haunts has kept tourists coming back.

When tourism numbers slumped during the Covid pandemic, the authorities tried to coax foreigners back into Bali with digital-nomad and golden-investor visas.

No such incentives are needed now.

Bali attracted nearly three million foreign visitors in just the first six months of this year — mostly from Australia, China and India, official figures show.

Foreign tourists spent an average of $1,625 per visit last year, up from $1,145 in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic, Indonesia’s statistics agency said.

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It is far from certain that Indonesia’s newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto wants to curb that income.

The previous government had promised both a tourism-related construction freeze and a light rail system to ease traffic in Bali.

But Prabowo — yet to comment on the plans — has raised doubts that he wants to arrest Bali’s development.

Meeting island officials recently, he pledged a second international airport to turn Bali into “the new Singapore, the new Hong Kong… an economic centre”.

Indonesian environmental group Walhi says the boom in tourism accommodation has already gone too far.

“Bali is now overbuilt, with green spaces turning into structures,” said executive director Made Krisna Dinata.

“The proposed moratorium should become a regulation that not only pauses development but also protects lands.”

The damage to Bali’s natural beauty is visible to the eye.

A wave of plastic trash has swamped normally pristine beaches, while groundwater over-extraction has dried up more than half its rivers.

Over-tourism has also put pressure on a UNESCO-listed irrigation system that feeds the island’s rice paddies, with greenlands that collect water increasingly built upon.

‘Dirty seawater’

Local concerns have been fed by viral videos showing excavations of limestone cliffs for construction in southern Bali, with chunks of land tumbling into the ocean.

“Many surf coaches have lost their livelihoods because guests are unwilling to surf due to the dirty seawater,” said 42-year-old surfer Piter Panjaitan in nearby Ungasan.

Misbehaving tourists have also sparked local ire, notably over foreigners posing naked at sacred sites.

“There are a lot of problems with guests who come here,” said Piter.

Jakarta says the building freeze plan aims to balance economic gain from tourism with preserving Bali’s natural beauty.

The head of Bali’s tourism agency Tjok Bagus Pemayun said a moratorium would spread tourism development away from southern Bali, where it is now heavily focused.

But not everyone is in favour of the proposed halt to construction.

Bali’s hotel and restaurant association vice-chairman, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Suryawijaya, called for a deeper study before any moratorium that could hurt tourism-reliant locals.

“When there’s oversupply, a moratorium is acceptable to prevent competition. But now, demand is actually increasing,” he said.

“Our occupancy rates have reached 80 to 90 percent.”