JEKT ♦ 14 [1] : 191–218
pISSN : 2301 – 8968
eISSN : 2303 – 0186
191
ANALYSIS OF FACTORS INFLUENCING THE INTEREST OF FOREIGN
TOURISTS TO REVISIT BALI
Bagus Putu Widanta
Universitas Udayana
ABSTRACT
Bali Province is not endowed with natural resources to drive its economy, but
rather relies heavily on tourism as its leading sector in achieving economic growth.
Against the backdrop of Bali’s heavy dependence on tourism, it is necessary to
conduct an analysis on how to survive the fierce tourism competition. There are
mainly four strategies for attracting investments, tourists and industries into a
region, namely: image, which is a set of beliefs, ideas and expressions that a person
has towards a region; attraction marketing, which is attraction of a tourist
destination; infrastructure marketing, which is the availability of facilities and
infrastructures that can attract people, investments and capital; and people
marketing, which is a strategy to market a region by marketing the attitudes of its
people: how open the local community is to foreign influences (people, investments,
industries and products). This study finds that image, infrastructure marketing,
attraction marketing and people marketing have positive and significant effects on
the interest of foreign tourists to revisit Bali. The results of this study provide a
comprehensive picture for the government and related parties in formulating tour
packages to attract foreign tourists to revisit Bali.
Keywords: revisit interest, image, infrastructure, attraction and people marketing
JEL Classifications : C68, F43, L52
INTRODUCTION
The tourism sector along with
other sectors contribute to the
development of Indonesia’s
economy. Development in tourism
provides jobs, income opportunities,
as well as bolster the developments
of various infrastructures which
leads to the growth of Indonesia’s
Gross Domestic Product. Indonesia is
an archipelago with long stretches of
seas and coastlines making it one of
the most coveted tourist destinations
in the world. As a benchmark of the
development of Indonesia’s tourism,
below is the comparison of tourist
visits in Indonesia and its
neighboring countries.
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Table 1. The Development of Tourist Visits to ASEAN Countries
(in Thousands)
Countries
2011
2012
2013
2014
Thailand
19,098
22,354
15,568
15,095
Malaysia
24,714
25,033
25,716
27,437
Singapore
13,171
14,491
15,568
15,095
Indonesia
7,650
8,044
8,802
9,435
Vietnam
6,014
6,848
7,572
7,874
Philippines
3,917
4,273
4,681
4,833
Source: Asean data, 2017
Indonesia ranks fourth
position in terms of the number of
foreign tourist visits compared to
neighboring countries below
Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore
while ranks only slightly above
Vietnam. This fact should serve as a
wake up call for the government and
related agencies to accelerate the
development of Indonesian tourism
going forward.
The Indonesian tourism has
been growing significantly each year
as can be seen from the steadily
growing number of tourist visits in
recent years. This increasing tourist
visits consequently will have a
significant impact on the increase of
the local community’s income.
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Table 2. The Growth of Tourist Visits to Indonesia
Year
Indonesia
Growth (%)
Bali
Jakarta
Riau Islands
2012
8,044,462
5.16
2,949,332
2,125,513
1,767,439
2013
8,802,129
9.42
3,278,598
2,313,742
1,859,066
2014
9,435,411
7.19
3,766,638
2,319,295
1,973,425
2015
10,406,291
10.29
4,001,835
2,377,226
2,037,673
2016
11,519,275
10.27
4,927,937
–
1,920,232
2017
14,039,799
21.88
5,697,739
–
2,074,534
2018
15,806,191
12.58
6,070,473
–
–
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, 2018
The enormous potentials
possessed by Indonesian tourism are
inseparable from the role of Balinese
tourism. As can be seen from the
table above, around 40 percent of
foreign tourists visiting Indonesia
was contributed by tourists visiting
Bali. This is inline with the statement
from the Minister of Tourism Arief
Yahya who stated that “Bali
contributes around 40 percent of the
total foreign tourist visiting
Indonesia. When a travel warning is
issued against Bali, its impact will
not only affect Bali but also
Indonesia” (Tribunnews.com, 2017).
The second highest tourism potential
is held by Jakarta which contributes
around 30 percent, the third is the
Riau Islands (Karimun, Bintan,
Batam, Tanjungpinang) around 20
percent, the fourth position is held
by Yogyakarta, while Bandung is in
the fifth.
In 2019, President Joko
Widodo revealed that the
government was targeting 20 million
foreign tourist visits
(merahputih.com, 2017). In order to
achieve this target, the supports from
various parties were crucial,
including those from tourism
businesses. The President through
The Ministry of Tourism launched a
program to create ten new “Bali”s or
ten priority tourist destinations, with
the emphasis on improving the
performances of other destinations in
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Indonesia to replicate Bali’s tourism,
capable of attracting six million
tourists and increasing significantly
each year. Ten destinations set as the
new “Bali”s will possess distinct
characteristics and uniqueness and
are not necessarily less attractive
compared to Bali. As for now, the
government has agreed to focus on
accelerating the development of four
destinations out of the ten new
“Bali”s. The development is realized
through building homestays,
restaurants, souvenir shops and SME
centers. These four new destinations
are Lake Toba, Borobudur,
Mandalika and Labuan Bajo.
Bali Province is not endowed
with any natural resources such as
minerals, oil and gas unlike other
regions in Indonesia. To drive its
economy, Bali Province relies heavily
on tourism as its leading sector in
achieving economic growth and
development. Bali is famous for its
beautiful natural landscapes, as well
as its uniqueness in culture, customs,
history, festivities (kite festivals,
cultural festivals, beach festivals,
agricultural festivals, local festivals
in various cities and regencies,
painting and musical festivals) and
various traditional ceremonies have
become the main attractions for the
visiting tourists. The beautiful
natural landscapes of Bali have been
recognized worldwide and crowned
as the best destination in the world
according to TripAdvisor in 2018
above of Paris. The hospitality and
friendliness of Balinese people,
coupled with the safety of the island
provide a greater sense of security
and comfort among visitors. In
addition to natural factor, the human
resource factor also play an
influential role in the development of
Balinese tourism. Uniqueness in
culture and customs, the availability
of supporting tourism
infrastructures, tourist destinations
and attractions supported by a good
promotion and marketing system are
highly needed in order to increase
tourist visits to Bali. The increase in
tourist arrivals leads to the
development of tourism and its
supporting infrastructures in Bali,
details of which can be seen in Table
3.
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Table 3. The Number of Balinese Tourism Businesses, 2017
No
Types of Tourism Business
Units
1
Accomodation
4,883
2
Restaurant/Diner
2,217
3
Travel Agent
371
4
Travel Agent Branch
23
5
Travel Agent MICE
9
6
Retirement Travel Bureau
9
7
Bar
426
8
Tourism Water Sport
237
Source: Bali Province Tourism Office, 2017
The growth of the tourism
sector as a leading sector also boosts
the development of other sectors,
such as agriculture, manufacturing,
services, manufacturing and others.
Bali’s enormous economic
dependence on the tourism sector
calls for the necessity to conduct an
internal analysis of strengths and
opportunities as well as weaknesses
and threats of tourism in Bali
(Rahyuda, 2003). Miscalculations in
formulating Balinese tourism
products will lead Balinese tourism
to the point of stagnation. According
Erawan (2003), the lack of
anticipations in forms of tourism
policies will trap tourism into
stagnation and the possibility of the
Doxey hypothesis coming into effect,
which illustrates the stages of
attitude changes of local people
towards tourism development in
their area. The first stage is the initial
stage, also known as the “euphoria”
stage, where tourists and investors
are welcomed with enthusiasm. The
next stage is “apathy” stage, where
tourists are accepted as given (taken
for granted), and where contact with
tourists is more formal. The next
stage is the annoyance stage, which
is already the stagnation stage,
where local people feel apprehensive
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about the tourism industry. And
lastly, the final stage is the
antagonism stage, where the
aggravation of the local community
is expressed openly, tourists are seen
as nothing but trouble makers.
The changing dynamics in
world markets and the increasingly
intense international tourism
competition requires the right
strategy to maintain tourism in Bali
as the most sought-after and
favorable destination for many
tourists. The improvement of tourist
safety in Bali, image promotions
(roadshow promotions, media
relations, and cultural diplomacies)
and product improvements
(transportation, facilities and
infrastructures) will provide better
comfort and positive impressions for
visiting tourists and boost their
interests to revisit in the future.
According to Kuncoro (2014),
there are four strategies that can be
implemented to attract investments,
people (tourists) and industries into
a region; namely: image, which is a
set of beliefs, ideas and expressions
that a person has towards a region;
attraction marketing, which is
attraction of a tourist destination;
infrastructure marketing, which is
the availability of facilities and
infrastructures that can attract
people, investments and capital; and
people marketing, which is a strategy
to market a region by marketing the
attitudes of its people, i.e. how open
the local community is to foreign
influences (people, investments,
industries and products).
Tourists may either arrive in
Bali independently or organizedly
via travel agents. The purposes of
their visits are either traveling,
business, work or education. Those
who go on a vacation or travel to
Bali, in addition to recreational
purposes, also aspire to experience
the beauty of Bali which is famous
worldwide. Bali has long been well-
known for its image as the paradise
island and the island of a thousand
temples, rich with various
attractions, such as beautiful natural
landscapes, history, shopping,
cultural attractions, building
monuments and statues, museums
and various other attractions that
lure tourists to visit Bali. The comfort
in a tourism destination is not solely
ANALYSIS OF FACTORS INFLUENCING THE INTEREST OF FOREIGN …….Bagus Putu Widanta
determined by its attractiveness
alone, rather it must also be
supported by adequate
infrastructures to provide greater
convenience for visiting tourists.
Adequate roads and transportation,
the environmental quality, safety,
accommodations and restaurants,
and visitor / tourist services are
several important factors in
increasing tourist visits to Bali. The
deteriorating traffic congestion in
Bali recently will adversely affect the
tourism sector as well as other
sectors if not solved immediately. A
This provides a sense of security that
is difficult to find elsewhere despite
having natural beauty beyond Bali.
The image, infrastructure,
attraction, and people marketing of
Bali has become an invaluable asset
“Taksu” that makes Bali a favorite
tourism destination. This is
evidenced by the enthusiasm of
numerous tourists who are not
satisfied with visiting Bali once, but
rather choose to come multiple times
(repeater). This enthusiasm or
interest of tourists to revisit Bali and
the influencing factors behind it is an