Bali Tourism News

The Ying and Yang of Island Tourism

A recent poll of 522 experts by National Geographic Magazine set about to rank the world’s most appealing island destinations in their struggle to maintain a proper balance between any innate appeal and the tendency for tourism to overrun and eventually consume the very charms that initially brought the world’s travelers to their shores.

In the well-chosen words of National Geographic:

“Tourism is a phenomenon that can cook your food or burn your house down. In other words, we all risk destroying the very places that we love the most.”

The just published survey [(National Geographic Island Survey)] looks at how popular island destinations are bearing up in terms of the sustainability of the “own traditions, ecosystems, cultures, landscapes.”

In the fourth survey of its kind, the Traveler magazine and the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations polled 522 experts in sustainable tourism and destination stewardship to review the conditions of 111 selected islands and archipelagos.

Guide to the Scores

0-25: Catastrophic: all criteria very negative, outlook grim.
26-49: In serious trouble.
50-65: In moderate trouble: all criteria medium-negative or a mix of negatives and positives.
66-85: Minor difficulties.
86-95: Authentic, unspoiled, and likely to remain so.
96-100: Enhanced.

The survey showed that of the 111 islands reviewed only one island – Faroe Island in Denmark earned an “authentic” and fully sustainable rating. Bali earned a rating of “57″ (In moderate trouble); Lombok rated a slightly higher “62″; Phuket in Thailand together with Oahu in Hawaii both earned “46″ which means both islands “are in serious trouble” in the opinion of the expert reviewers.

Here’s The Complete List

87 Faroe Islands, Denmark
84 Azores, Portugal
82 Lofoten, Norway
82 Shetland Islands, Scotland
82 Chiloé, Chile
81 Isle of Skye, Scotland
80 Kangaroo Island, South Australia
80 Mackinac Island, Michigan
80 Iceland
79 Molokai, Hawaii
78 Aran Islands, Ireland
78 Texel, Netherlands
77 Dominica
77 Grenadines
76 Tasmania
76 Bora Bora, French Polynesia
76 Fraser Island, Australia
76 Bornholm, Denmark
76 Hydra (ĂŤdra), Greece
76 Falkland Islands (U.K.)
75 Corsica, France
75 Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
74 Vanuatu, Melanesia
74 Santa Catalina Island, California
73 Upolu and Savai’i, Samoa
73 Isle of Man (U.K.)
72 Palawan, Philippines
72 Moorea, French Polynesia
72 Block Island, Rhode Island
71 Ilha Grande, Brazil
71 Sardinia, Italy
71 Hvar, Croatia
71 Jersey and Guernsey (U.K.)
70 San Juan Islands, Washington State
70 St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
70 Seychelles
70 Anguilla (U.K.)
70 Nevis
69 Palau, Micronesia
69 Cook Islands
69 Prince Edward Island, Canada
69 Salt Spring Island, Gulf Islands, British Columbia
69 Mount Desert Island, Maine
69 RĂ©union (France)
68 Bon aire
68 Sicily, Italy
68 St.Vincent
68 Yasawa group, Fiji
67 Pemba, Tanzania
67 Hawaii (Big Island)
66 Out Islands, Bahamas
66 Bermuda, North Atlantic
66 Tobago
66 São Tomé and Príncipe
65 Cyprus, Turkish side
65 Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique
65 Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts
64 Solomon Islands
64 Jeju/Cheju, South Korea
64 Ocracoke, Outer Banks, North Carolina
64 Kauai, Hawaii
64 St. Lucia
63 Nantucket, Massachusetts
62 Martinique (France)
62 Corfu, Greece
62 Crete, Greece
62 Lombok, Indonesia
62 Barbados
61 Tonga, Polynesia
61 Madeira Islands, Portugal
61 Tortola, British Virgin Islands
61 Islands of Lake Titicaca, Peru/Bolivia
61 Sanibel, Florida
61 Santorini, Greece
61 Maldives (except Malé)
59 Grenada
59 Capri, Italy
59 Tahiti, French Polynesia
59 St. Kitts
58 Viti Levu, Fiji
57 Maui, Hawaii
57 Bali, Indonesia
57 Cape Verde Islands
57 Curaçao
55 Isla Mujeres, Mexico
55 Malta (all islands)
55 Guadeloupe
55 Mauritius
54 Mykonos, Greece
54 Federated States of Micronesia
54 Mallorca, Spain
53 St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
53 Zanzibar, Tanzania
52 Canary Islands, Spain
51 Puerto Rico
51 Cyprus, Greek side
50 Antigua
49 Hatteras Island, Outer Banks, North Carolina
48 Aruba (Netherlands)
47 Grand Cayman
47 Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras
47 St. Martin (Netherlands/France)
47 Cozumel, Mexico
46 Oahu, Hawaii
46 Key West, Florida
46 Phuket, Thailand
45 Hilton Head, South Carolina
44 Jamaica
44 Providenciales, Turks and Caicos
37 Ibiza, Spain
37 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

The reviewers had the following comments on Bali:

“Bali is one of the world’s magical places. Even though it has been overrun by tourism development and population growth, somehow it has been able to maintain its unique character, though some parts of the island—Denpasar, Kuta Beach—are now incredibly degraded and depressing for those of us who knew Bali in the good old days.”

“Yes, Kuta and Nusa Dua represent the ugly faces of crass commercialism—but if they are developed as specific mass tourism enclaves and generate income, and if development in the rest of the island is more restrained, Bali will still be worth visiting. The flowers are still colorful, the smiles still warm, the rice fields still mesmerizing, and the gamelan music still a calming, soothing backdrop—after 30 years of rampant development.”

“Bali is a mixed bag of tourism projects that represent the absolute worst (Kuta) in sustainable travel and some of the best (Ubud).”

“In spite of the recent terrorist events, Bali is still an excellent destination. Magnificent rice terraced landscapes. Gentle, warm people. The culture is strong, vivid, and vibrant. Facilities are varied, catering to many tastes. However, beaches are not good, and the environment is under threat from destruction of reefs and mangroves, linear development, salt water intrusion, etc.”

Source : www.balidiscovery.com

Add comment November 8th, 2007

More on the UN’s December Climate Blowout on Bali

Having posted the details below on Ban Ki-Moon’s December climate conference at a seaside luxury resort on Bali, I’ve now gone a bit deeper into the UNFCC web site (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change). There the UNFCC has posted its “Overview Schedule” for the conference. Not only are the proceedings amid the beaches and tennis courts (see photo in Nov. 4 post, below) scheduled to go on…and on… and on… for a full 12 days. It also looks like the work hours won’t intrude all that much on the recreational possibilities.
The meetings at the Dec. 3-14 conference begin each day at a leisurely 10 A.M., with a two-hour break for lunch, and wrap up their work on assigned topics by 6 PM. Except on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday — Dec. 6,7, 8 and 10 — when all meetings will be devoted to “informal groups.” On Sunday, Dec. 9, there are no meetings scheduled at all. In other words, the workaday UN conferees will be jetting to Bali for a routine in which they spend almost half the 12 days of the conference engaged in unstructured activities, start work mid-morning, lunch from 1-3 P.M. and knock off in time for cocktails.

Why is Ban Ki-Moon steering public resources into a two-week UN climate-crowd pajama party on Bali? I’m almost tempted to protest. Except if these folks skip the mai-tais by the pool and toil around the clock, it could get even worse. The last time the UN rolled up its sleeves and went to work on a giant project, we got Oil-for-Food. If the UN in the name of controlling the climate gets into the business of regulating the economies and reallocating the resources of the entire planet, it could cost the rest of us trillions in productivity lost, creativity stifled and development thwarted — or, in a nutshell — freedoms foregone. So, interesting though the inevitably ensuing corruption scandals might be, here’s hoping the conferees at Ban’s Bali Blowout take a hint from the Overview Schedule, and spend all their time on the beach.

Source: http://pajamasmedia.com/

Add comment November 8th, 2007