ALTERNATIVE TOURISM AND TRAVEL FAIR

Bali alternative tourism and travel fair

" Sometimes it's the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination. "
Drake

 

The organisation of mass tourism, in most cases, focuses on the profitability-based orientation with featuring products of “all inclusive travel packages.” This corporate policy, directly or indirectly, dictates the travelers to be consumptive tourists indulging primarily in the comforts of various touristic amenities and infrastructures rather than discover the country they visit. As a consequence, the tourism itself is not more than a "mere travel commercialisation.” The big tour operators overseas are often very powerful imposing their standard of rules and dictating their own prices over the local service providers (see local hotels, local travel agencies, etc.). This practice does not, for sure, bring good impacts to the people of the visited country.

 

OUR VIEW ON TOURISM

The orientation of traveling and tourism in general has now swung the pendulum. More and more visitors  are   aware of the impacts their journeys can give to the region visited. They begin therefore try an alternative way of traveling to cope with the new emerging needs. In one hand, they wish to discover the country visited as much and closely as possible not only the beauty of its nature but also the extravagance of its culture. They would like to see the local people in order to know how they live and how it differs from them. They do not like either to be in the tourist traps; they want to see the authentic side of the country. On the other hand, they wish that their journeys  would be of benefit to the region visited and its people. These new traveling trends seem to have influenced the orientation of world tourism from mass tourism to community-cantered tourism development. Thank to the serious efforts by the local organisations and local providers these expectations can be realised without neglecting the quality of their trip vacations. These visitors have succeded to enhance and turn their journey into cultural communication between nations bringing about a unique and unforgettable vacational experience. 

TRAVEL FAIR AND INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

The idea of 'travel-faircame to us throughout our experience in accompanying the trips offered by tour operators overseas. In fact, there has been important things we have learned. First, we have seen a very weak fairness in the distribution of resources between the travel designers (read : tour operators)  and real actors in the field (read : local service providers). On the other hand, we also noticed the disappointment among visitors concerning the organization of their trips and vacation in Bali. This seems to have brought about a less friendly image to our country (see section "About us"). This situation has led us to think and to develop different approach to tourism and trip vacation on the Island that could probably be offered to the ‘future visitors’.

 

Load equality

From our point of view,”fair-travel" is first of all concerned with “you” - the travelers. It is about “choice” that you make related to the way of traveling. You are the consumer as well as the primary initiator of this process. You choose Bali - our island as an ultimate destination of your holiday and then decide at the very beginning to get in touch with us (the local designer as well as the local actor) to realize your travel plans on the spot. The effect of your choice is fair only if there is no in-between in this relationship. The purchase and other expense you make during your trip on the spot regardless of the amount constitute a real, direct and valuable contribution to the local people, to the sustainable development of their territory and also a great support to the local fair trade.

 

Balinese school children

What is more, the fair-travel that you choose will benefit not only to the local community in terms of the economic fallout, but it allows you traveling more closely to the reality and the authentic side of the country while offering you the opportunity to learn more in person about the country – its environment, its culture and tradition and the way of life of its people. By this way, you will gain a better understanding of our island and understanding of yourself, all of which is an excellent base to grow up a sense of international solidarity. 

 

So, Bali Essential is created to achieve the following purposes :


•   To benefit to the Economy of the local Community.

It's been over 30 years since we developed the mass tourism in BaliUntil the late of 2005, we have counted  25.5 million tourists from all over the world coming to Bali. Then in 2008the Bali Chamber of Tourism has set the total number of visiting tourists to 31 million. It is really fantasticOne might think that this phenomenal contribution from the tourism industry must have been able to raise significantly the life of the population of the islandBut it's not unfortunately the caseMore or less than 20% of expenses made by the tourists is left on the islandwhile the other 80are repatriated by the western companies (airline companies, hotel chaintour operators, etc.).

 

Balinese community togetherness

The creation of 'Bali Essential' is an effort by a small group of young  people who cannot stand watching the tourism practices more and more destructive and demoralizing to the local population. At least, this intervention could motivate the others to think about the way how to counteract such practices.

 

In our mind, this tourism development should be more in favor of the local population, and the tourism practice itself should therefore benefit to the local population as well. Back to our activity related to tourism, we prefer to keep our clients away from tourist-crowded places by taking them to the remote and quite areas so they can discover the authentic side and the reality of the country. The people who live in such regions are hardly affected by the fallout of tourism activities that often take place before their eyes. We hope therefore that the expenses made by the travelers during their visits for meals and some other shopping can benefit to the local people  who actually need it very much, and not only to the "intermediate". For this reason, some alternative options of tourism services such as the 'organization of home stay', staying in hotels held by the local people, eating in small local restaurants, shopping in small local shop, buying small handicrafts in the village are very helpful and good solutions to achieve adequately this ambition.

 

•   To prioritize the Services provided by the local People.

In organizing touristic activities for our clients like hiking, biking, cooking classes, scuba diving, rafting, etc.), we prefer to work in partnership with local service providers, with friends and with village organizations. We are sure that these people really need the economic fallout to improve their daily life and to support the education of their children while motivating them to improve the quality of their services. We hope, this can be of a good help to the population of the visited regions (our partners, our friends, the small craftsmen in the small isolated villages, and those whom we encounter frequently in the countryside), or at least this action can slow down the exodus of the young people to go to the town.


•    To permit the Travelers to have personal Contact with the local Population.

We are also committed to take you to the circumstance where you have the opportunity to encounter the local population, exchanging with them and exploring their culture, their traditions and their way of life. This experience is accessible for everyone provided that he/she agrees to respect the local values (culture, beliefs, life custom, environment, etc.). Besides, we avoid as much as possible the places crowded by the tourists and take you to the quieter and more peaceful sites, pass on the small roads, walk down in the rice fields, cross the small villages, visit traditional markets, stay in lodge house, eat in a small outlet run by local people. This kind of travel organization does not necessarily neglect the quality of your discovery and exploration of the fabulous places of interest.

 

Responsible and respectful visitors

•   To encourage the Travelers to take responsible Actions towards the local Culture, Customs and Environment.

To ensure the smooth running of your whole stay and trips on the island, we attempt to make our clients aware of the local culture, tradition, people and our environment so that they can develop good attitudes and responsible actions towards the local values. We always inform the travelers about the local rules and local norms. For example, in Bali there is a dress code to be respected before entering into a temple, not to pass before the pilgrims in prayer, not to touch someone's head, even with a small child, use always the right hand when getting in touch with someone, etc.

THE WHOLE SERVICE HANDLED BY LOCAL PEOPLE

•   Undisputable Knowledge and Experience in the Field.

Our team is composed of Balinese people who are born and raised in Bali and have always been living with our culture and our tradition. Therefore, we know our island and our country very well, better than those who have just been staying on the island for some times. Similarly, our expertise in tourism develops over time through our experience over the years. More than just a simple agent, we are a team of "real craftsmen" who are constantly in search of new horizons in order to give a more unusual color to our range of services. In addition, we are not less responsive to all your questions and requests about your travel plans on our island.

 

•   By a Teamwork consisting of local People.

In Bali there are a great number of tour guides of different languages, who come from all over Indonesia, even quite a few coming from overseas and working there in secret. However, we still hold tightly our initial principle in order that our team consists solely of original Balinese tour guides. However, beware...! It's not a racist way of thinking. We have a very good reason for this, that is, to give more opportunities to the Balinese tour guides. We wish you getting more information about Bali, about our culture, about our tradition and about our way of life. When you make a trip and excursion around Bali, it is not only about “what you see visually” but also “what lies behind the vision” in front of you. Our experience shows that only those who are living with their culture and tradition and experienced enough in the profession are competent and eloquent to tell you about their culture, about their tradition and about their philosophy of life, and oftentimes this information outreaches of your guide book. On the contrary, we will regret so much if any of our tour guides turns you away from visiting the fabulous cultural sites simply because he/she doesn’t have enough information to tell, and this is unfortunate.

 

•   With a Will to limit the Capacity of Reception.

To ensure the quality of our services, we keep our first commitment: to voluntarily limit our capacity to accept clients because it is impossible for us to accommodate everyone. Beside that, we are not a big team, and therefore we will look at the availability of our guides and our hotel partners. We prefer to accept few guests so that we can take care of them better. For this reason, we invite you to take out several months in advance because every year we are often forced to turn people away. For those who plan to travel to Bali and to make some tours and trips there during the peak season between July and August, it is better to reserve their stay (accommodation, guide, trips) at least ten months in advance in order to get what they really want.