Tourism, exploitation and cultural Imperialism: recent observations from Indonesia

Tourism, exploitation and cultural Imperialism: recent observations from Indonesia

Tourism in Indonesia can fall into two categories, recreational tourism and cultural tourism. The impact of each category on the host community varies according to the intensity of tourist operation and the target group. In the case of Central Java, there is a mixture of cultural and recreational tourism involving adventure tourism (for example climbing the active volcano Mt Merapi) and the artistic and cultural attractions of the city of Yogyakarta. In the East Java town of Kalibaru a small family plantation acts as a homestay educating niche visitors about Indonesian life. By contrast, what might be called cultural pollution is a feature of the Kuta Beach area of southern Bali where masses of recreational beach-going Australian tourists domminate. The bars, nightclub and junk tourist culture of this area has little connection to aspects of Balinese culture in villages such as Ubud where craft and artistic values were traditionally more significant, but the high value placed on the arts by more culturally oriented tourists has helped ensure their survival. However, the unplanned and organic nature of tourist development in Kuta allowed some local Balinese entrepreneurs to use the tourism boom to improve their stake in the tourist market, in contrast to the Nusa Dua and Sanur areas characterised by upper and middle level tourist development controlled by outside entrepreneurs.

c. University of Queensland.