Promotion and Development of Tourism

The Senate Committee on Tourism exchanged views with Mr. Peeraphon Prayooravong, Honorary Consul, the Royal Thai Consulate in Denpasar, on tourism information in Bali as follows:

1. Investment in Bali
For investment in Bali, Thai investors conduct business on constructions, cement manufacturing, small diesel fuel supplier, roof tile manufacturing, and hotels. Hotel business is a fat growing business in Bali. However, tourism services are mostly operated by the locals as well as Chinese investors who mainly invest in real estate development and constructions.

2. Tourism
2.1 The Number of Tourists
The number of tourists in 2012 was 2,949,332 consisting of: 1) 799,897 Australian tourists 3) 317,165 Chinese tourists 3) 188,711 Japanese tourists 4) 169,592 Malaysian tourists 5) 123,157 Korean tourists 6) 117,536 Singaporean tourists 7) 116,462 English tourists 8) 112,447 French tourists and 9) 36,454 Thai tourists. Moreover, 4,000,000 Indonesian tourists travelling domestically which is considered a small number comparing to the population.
In 2013, the number of international tourists travelling to Bali was approximately 3,300,000 and the number of domestic tourists was 5,000,000. Due to short distance, the number of Australian tourists were 400,000 which was ranked first among the total number of tourists in Bali. The second rank was Chinese tourists who visited Bali with travel agencies and stayed in 2-3 star hotels. The third rank was Japanese tourists and the fourth rank was South Korean tourists. However, due to high travelling cost from Europe, approximately 100,000 tourists from England visited Bali.

2.2 Tourism Capacity
Bali has a small airport which cannot be expanded. However, Bali has planned to construct the second airport in the north of the island. Tourism management in Bali and nearby islands has not yet been convenient in terms of transportation and facilities. A 3-hour connectivity from Bali to Lombok by speed boats has been operated by investors from the Middle East but it was not popular among tourists. The majority of Balinese population is Hindus creating cultural uniqueness to Bali tourism. Most tourists in Bali prefer peaceful vacation such as reading and sun bathing. Therefore, night clubs are not found in Bali.
Kuta Beach is another important tourist site which is the most popular beach in Bali. Kuta Beach is the longest beach in the north of Bali with black sand from volcano. However, comparing to Kuta Beach, Patong Beach in Phuket Province of Thailand, has more beautiful sand and water. Therefore, Thailand is more competitive in terms of natural and marine resources and has more beautiful and attractive tourism sites comparing Bali.

2.3 Services for Tourists
Tourist services in Bali are not sufficient. On the other hand, Thailand can provide better services which is an advantage and uniqueness of the country. 

Views and Suggestions from the Study Visit
1. Organization of Tourist Sites
     Burobudur is a Buddhism archaeological site having an effective tourism organization. The tourist authority does not allow vendors or souvenir shops in the area in order to create aesthetics and maintain order in the tourism site. On the other hand, archeological sites in Thailand which are beautiful and popular among tourists around the world are full of vendors and shops or intruded by people in the area resulting in negative effects to the image and landscape of the tourism sites.
     Thai government, especially the Ministry of Culture, should follow the Indonesian government’s tourism organization for archeological and cultural sites as guidelines and strictly enforce the Act on Ancient Monuments, Antiques, Objects of Art and National Museums B.E. 2504.

2. Organization of Beach
     Bali has long been a popular marine tourism site of Indonesia having 5 million visitors per year. Tourists are mostly from Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. However, it was found from the study visit that beaches in Bali are not as beautiful as marine tourist sites in Thailand. Traffic in Bali and other popular tourist sites is also busy. However, Bali has the strength in organizing beaches. The Indonesian government can effectively and orderly organize beaches which can be guidelines for Thailand. When considering beaches in Phuket, beaches are intruded by vendors and people resulting in unorderly scenery in the area.
     Considering the strength of better marine tourism sites and the advantages of Thailand’s location in the Southeast Asia, the Thai government should accelerate the process in finding the solution in regards to the unorganized beach in marine tourism sites to be further in order.

3. Air Transportation
     The Indonesian government places the importance on air transportation and develops the capacity and potential of airports to be able to serve a number of tourists. Comparing to Phuket Province which is also an international destination for marine tourism, Phuket International Airport cannot serve the need of tourists due to the size and potential of the airport.
     As a result, the Thai government should develop more effective air transportation in order to create impression to tourists and develop the marine tourist attractions to be the sustainable income source of Thailand.