Bali To Learn Lessons From Africa’s Conservation Tourism Initiatives

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As the Africa-Indonesia Forum 2024 comes to a close in Bali, leaders are looking forward to how new lessons can be integrated across the board.

From agriculture to trade, from industry to tourism, plenty of innovation and ideas have been shared. One big focus point for the Bali tourism sector is the amount that can be learned from African nations about conservation tourism. 

Speaking to reporters, the Indonesian Minister for Tourism and Creative Economies, Sandiaga Uno, explained, “What we can learn from Africa is conservation tourism, so we met with the President of Tanzania and Algeria, and it turns out that Algeria is a country with the largest amount of Roman-era buildings, larger than Italy.”

He noted that conservation tourism across Africa should be a source of inspiration for Indonesia, as many nations have been successful in making their historical heritage both a tourist attraction and a site or area of preservation. 

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Minister Uno shared his surprise to learn that Tanzania generates 30% of its income from tourism, the majority of which focuses on fauna tourism.

In press interviews, many Indonesian politicians were referring to Zanzibar as a country in its own right which is not correct. Zanzibar is an island off the coast of Tanzania, which experiences many similarities within tourism to Bali, hence why these may have been referred to interchangeably. 

Minister Uno explained, “30% of its economy is contributed by tourism that focuses only on seeing animals, so going there for glamping is not always luxurious but a comfortable resort, the main attraction is seeing giraffes, elephants or seeing other animals.”

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Speaking separately, Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that Indonesia can learn much from Tanzania regarding maritime tourism, fisheries, and the marine economy.

He told reporters, “We must increase cooperation in coastal and marine tourism, such as building sister islands with Bali and maritime tourism hubs.”

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Moving forward, new partnership agreements will be signed for cooperation between Bali Province and Zanzibar to develop more conservation tourism, maritime tourism, and the blue economy.

With Zanzibar also facing a tourism development boom and its small island nature at risk of over-tourism down the line, leaders in the province are putting into effect new policies that will help protect the landscape and curb unruly behavior by tourists. 

As of 1st October 2024, all tourists visiting Zanzibar Island must take out a mandatory Inbound Travel Insurance from the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation (ZIC) for the duration of their stay, which is up to 92 days.

This policy can only be taken out by the ZIC and offers tourists comprehensive coverage for emergencies such as medical evacuations and repatriation.

This could be a police force that Bali could learn a thing or two from, with tourists ending up in the ICU on a weekly basis, often facing unimaginably high medical bills and having no travel insurance to rely upon. The cost for the ZIC insurance is a flat USD 44, in addition to the visa-on-arrival policy. 

With Indonesia’s seeking to promote more culturally respectful and sustainable tourism across the country and to introduce new policies to reduce the risk of over-tourism in Bali, many are hopeful that these new partnerships with African nations can help inspire a new wave of tourism opportunities across the archipelago. 

For Bali, learning more about protecting landscapes while boosting high-quality tourism is one of the most pressing issues of all.

Policymakers in Indonesia are about to announce new legislation that will better control the turnover of agricultural and community land to commercial and tourism use, a move that many feel is a big step in the right direction in protecting the remaining natural landscapes on the Island of the Gods.