Former Bali Governor Calls On Tourism Stakeholders To Access International Support For Security

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Tourism stakeholders from across Bali gathered for a Nawacita Tourism Bali sharing session in Denpasar over the weekend. Attendees and speakers included Made Mangku Pastika, who is the former Governor of Bali and ex-Police Chief for Bali.

The Head of the Bank of Indonesia for Bali, Trisno Nugroho, and the President of UID Bali Campus, Tantowi Yahya, also attended the session. The public discussion titled ‘Tourism Development Trends in the Face of Global Economic Challenges’ was a forum for stakeholders to discuss the island’s most important revenue source and its future in alignment with the central government’s vision and mission.

Pastika shared his views that the tourism sector faces global economic challenges but also challenges in terms of security. As the ex-Chief of Police for Bali, his observations are from the point of personal experience. He said Bali requires support and guidance from international security and safety programs. He said, “There must be a ‘sense of security’. You can’t [risk] it, especially since tourism is the most vulnerable.” He called on the tourism stakeholders across Bali to put aside identity politics and political views in order to focus on ensuring the island remains safe.

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He continued to explain that in order for Bali to develop an international standard security and safety development program, the island and its security teams need access to sophisticated surveillance and security equipment, outstanding human resources, and access to international intelligence networks. He concluded, “The presence of the tourism police is a good selling point for tourism because tourists can feel safe and protected.”

The panel discussion moved on to hear from the Head of the Bank of Indonesia for Bali, Trisno Nugroho. He praised Bali’s tourism industry for being both resilient and sustainable. Nugroho said, “Bali has no opponents. Business and leisure have great potential in the future,” noting that tourism arrivals for 2023 will be far closer to pre-pandemic levels than in 2022.

The topic of public safety has been a conversation in Bali for some time and has resurfaced again in recent weeks. While Pastika spoke about the need for safety in terms of anti-terrorism and crime on the streets, it is safety within tourism activities and at tourism facilities that stakeholders have also acknowledged as being in need of attention.

In November 2022, tourism leaders in Indonesia, with many from Bali, called on the industry to establish a safety certification to help protect both travelers and businesses. During another panel discussion, tourism leader Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya called on stakeholders in Bali to create a series of health and safety standards to help regulate the sector.

Wijaya said, “Bali has a unique destination, second to none in the world. Bali competes with Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, to European countries. This must, of course, be maintained so that Bali is of higher quality, the management is higher quality, and our target is premium-class tourism…For our tourism workforce, it has been proven that we are needed worldwide. But for our destinations or tourist objects, the quality must continue to be improved so that we can still compete with other countries”.

Coming back to specific examples of where safety protocols and regulations would be beneficial, Wijaya noted that the famous Bali swings and the rafting experiences offered on the island’s rivers would all be better off for having a safety standard in place. He explained, “It’s not bad, but bamboo and wood have an age. When should they be replaced, and so on. The same goes for rafting, there must be certification, what is allowed and what is not allowed”. His comments came within weeks of a series of rafting disasters due to rapidly changing conditions on the water.

In light of a rise in callouts for the Bali Search and Rescue teams, three of Nusa Penida’s busiest tourist beaches have been closed for swimming to help protect public safety. An investigation remains underway to establish new ways to ensure the famous swim spots can be best managed.