IngentaConnect Tourism and Total Crisis in Indonesia: The Case of Bali

Author: Hitchcock M.

Source: Asia Pacific Business Review, Volume 8, Number 2, Winter 2001 , pp. 101-120(20)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract:

In a joke circulating in Bali in 1998 the term 'total crisis' (kristal) was used to refer to the impact of the financial crisis upon Indonesia. The joke not only referred to the constant stream of bad news, but also was an ironic commentary on the state of affairs in Bali: the crisis did not appear to be as severe on the island as elsewhere in Indonesia. During the crisis the island was not as peaceful as it appeared to be on the surface, but nonetheless managed to retain a relatively stable tourism industry. The island's comparative peacefulness is attributable to various intersecting interlocutors: Bali's well established international identity, the all-important tourism, the vested interests of the Chinese and other powerful Indonesian investors. These outside interests are also closely interwoven into the island's economy via well-connected islanders. These interest groups were also able to persuade the media that Bali remained safe, despite the international attention focused on Indonesia's troubles between 1997 and 1999. The prevailing view that security is a prerequisite for the maintenance of a successful tourism industry needs to be qualified, but it remains unclear whether or not any general conclusions can be drawn, since Bali remains an island with many special attributes.

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