Tourism in a Balinese Village

Abstract

Between 1970 and 1984, Kuta, Indonesia, changed from an insignificant farming village to an important tourism site that accommodated more than 60,000 arrivals annually. Development of tourism resulted from local entrepreneurial activity without governmental or external aid or financing. Tourism led to spectacular increases in land values, personal income, employment, and infrastructure and facilities. It also brought high levels of crime, environmental degradation, and alteration of the original village character. KUTA, on the Indonesian island of Bali, was a small, traditional agricultural and fishing village in 1970. By 1984 the village had been transformed into one of the most important tourism centers on the island. The purpose of this article is to analyze the effects of tourism on the geographic, cultural, economic, social, and political conditions in Kuta. The hope is that this investigation will enable greater understanding of the role of tourism in developmental processes at the local scale. Furthermore, the study identifies opportunities and pitfalls that should be considered in any formulation of plans for tourism development.' PRETOURISM LANDSCAPE Kuta, located nine kilometers south of Denpasar and two kilometers north of the international airport, is situated adjacent to the Indian Ocean on the narrow isthmus separating the arid Bukit peninsula from the rest of Bali (Fig. 1). The village covers 12.93 square kilometers and encompasses two traditional villages, Legian and Seminyak, that local people treat as separate places but that are administratively part of Kuta. The whole area is subdivided into twelve traditional neighborhoods (banjar) that are territorial, social, and cultural units. The word banjar refers to both a place and its residents, who act as a collective group. Unlike most Balinese villages, which are located in the mountains, Kuta stands on flat terrain. The arid climate rules out the lush vegetation found elsewhere on the island. Before the onset of tourism development, Kuta had a population of 9,000. The cultural landscape of the village shared features common to most Balinese villages. The core of the village was at its center, in the area defined by the * Funding for fieldwork in 1984-85 was provided by grants from the National Geographic Society and the National Science Foundation. The research was sponsored by the Indonesian Department of Postal Services, Telecommunications, and Tourism. 1 Unless otherwise indicated, data and information referred to in this article were obtained from unpublished governmental and village records and by interviews with village residents conducted during 1974-75, 1977, 1980, and 1984-85. * DR. HUSSEY is an assistant professor of geography at California State University, Northridge, California 91330. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.78 on Mon, 20 Jun 2016 07:25:40 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW , BUcELENHTG. Batur crsrod of twomaistt, aa a a ANG,n LIa iG. Abang .A baJEanBRANA gei l f th | ^~ *~ ^G. Batukau? J^^ )~ /~ G. Agung si o a Seio i m as fMI d ancs Adtnls aBALI fGIANJr ea s i ^^-^OC^-rS ( KKAB ) poert Uan pu c iGn the v l aeTof manen cvredmart , sDENPASAR s= vi * Tourist Destination Areasr -