The central government has announced that Bali will have the biggest cruise port in Indonesia.
The State-Owned Enterprise Minister, Erick Tohir, confirmed that the central government would develop the Bali Maritime Tourism Hub (BMTH) to revive Bali’s economy.
The project will be located in the Benoa Port area in Southern Bali, where the government also plans to develop a yacht terminal, a cargo terminal, and a fishery zone.
Erick stated that once the development is completed, BMTH will help promote the creative economy of the island by displaying local products.
“We plan to allow only local goods such as food and handicrafts in the BMTH to give the local people an opportunity to thrive,” Erick said through a written announcement on Saturday (1/1).
This program is expected to start operations in 2023 as Indonesia’s center of maritime tourism. This will be in accordance with the Superhub Development Program initiated by the President.
It will allow the micro-economy and creative economic sector to create a new ecosystem for Bali as it’s expected to be the home port of international cruise ships.
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Tuhami
Wednesday 5th of January 2022
As a tourism consultant my company has conducted several studies about cruise boat tourism all over the world. Overal conclusion: Cruise boat tourism costs far too much than it adds to the local economy! Especially for destinations which are already attracting a lot of tourism. Destinations with a well developed tourism infrastructure and a healthy tourism economy do not need this kind of tourism. It is often a prestige project! Although the cruise line company pays port fee at the destination they tend to buy fuel and all food and drinks on places where it is the cheapest. This happens almost never in the most popular destinations! The guests on board (up to 5000 people sometimes) spend no significant money on these destinations unless it is their embark or disembark port. In this latter case they book hotels, go to restaurants, take a taxi and use any entertainment. They tend to add an extra day before or after the cruise trip. However, the amount of people who embark or disembark the boat depends on the hub function of such a destination. Bali is NOT such a hub! The nearby Singapore is already such a hub. The tourists on board do not add any significant contribution to the economy besides the use of transport, buying cheap souvenirs and visiting local attractions. However, the social pressure caused on the destination by these tourists is huge. Examples are Venice, Amsterdam, Cannes, Dubrovnic, Mallorca etc. Local inhabitants are fighting against this kind of tourism. These destinations are suffering heavily from cruise tourism. It is suffocating the entire tourism business of a destination. Imagine: how long will you wait to enter an attraction when you see 3 busses loaded with seniors ahead of you? Briefly, cruise tourism is beautiful. It is nice to see such a huge luxury boat at your harbor. However, it costs so much more than you can imagine! Do you really need that Bali?
Paul Morris
Thursday 6th of January 2022
@Tuhami, Fantastic article telling the real facts about cruise boat tourism well done.
Pak Shorty
Wednesday 5th of January 2022
Two Faced? The Bali government was instrumental in the success of 'Tolak Reklamasi'. Yet here they are proposing development, which by looking at the proposed inclusions, could dwarf the previous plan.
The harbour mouth and approaches are totally unsuitable. It would need continual dredging to be maintained. The water flow patterns along Tanjung Benoa would severely affect the tourist beach development.
Like so many proposals due diligence seems to be based on 'build it and they will come' with no due diligence.
Paul Speirs
Wednesday 5th of January 2022
So as always the same area is going for the money. What about the new? terminal at tanahampoo that was built in 2010 and only used a few times but then the east coast is not on this government radar.
Wayan Bo
Tuesday 4th of January 2022
Great, then the ship’s could start to transport tourists from Bali to areas such Thailand, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Caribbean, Mediterranean …
Gregory Stegman
Tuesday 4th of January 2022
Do you get the feeling that the Government is trying to change the face of Bali by keeping it closed. The small shops and bars will disappear without international tourists and multinational hotels will take over.