Waste Management and the Image of Bali Tourism

Waste Management and the Image of Bali Tourism

            Bali has received many awards as one of the world-class tourist destinations. One of the awards is that Bali has been named the best travel destination in the world by the 2017 TripAdvisor Travelers Choice Awards. Another award was given by Condé Nast Traveler Middle East who awarded Bali as a favorite adventure destination for tourists from the Middle East for the period 2018-2019. This award further strengthens the position of Bali as a famous tourist destination, not only in Asia and Europe, which is Bali's main market share but also in the Middle East.

            There are handful of awards given to Bali as a tourism destination which cannot be mentioned one by one. These awards must not make the Bali Provincial Government and tourism actors in Bali Province complacent. In 2019 there was a tendency to decrease in foreign tourist arrivals to Bali. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded a significant decrease in foreign tourist arrivals (tourists) to 7.83 percent compared to 2018.

            The problem of sanitation and management of waste is very much related to tourist satisfaction. Tourist satisfaction is crucial in the current Internet era, where tourist ratings of a tourism destination is very easy to convey through tourism e-commerce sites such as Tripadvisor various sites including news sites that are a reference for potential tourists who will visit a tourist destination.

            There are many factors that cause a decrease in the number of tourist visits, but there are three things that are seen as the main enemies of tourism, which are high crime rates, traffic congestion, and waste problems. Each tourism destination must experience these three problems, but of course on different levels. Especially for the Province of Bali, these three problems also exist and are becoming increasingly complicated. But what gets the most attention from tourists and tourism practitioners is the waste/rubbish problem.

          The problem of waste in the Bali Province has actually become a concern of tourists who visited Bali. One tourist who is very concerned about the rubbish problem in Bali is Andrew Marshall who writes an article in the online time magazine with the title "Holidays in Hell: Bali's Ongoing Woes" which writes that Bali has a variety of problems that are difficult to solve including waste problems. The article became viral because it was published on the time online magazine site which is certainly read by the world community. Another viral news about the rubbish problem in Bali is a video from a British diver named Rich Horner who recorded his activities in the Nusa Penida sea. In the video, Rich Horner dives surrounded by trash floating in the ocean. The video was then viral in various mass media and social media, which actually described Bali as an area that has problems with waste.

            The problem of waste in the Province of Bali can be distinguished from its source and type. From the source of waste in Bali Province more often comes from unmanaged household waste. According to the environmental news site mongabay.co.id, Bali produces 4,281 tons of waste every day, of which 52% of the waste is not managed. The type of waste produced by 60% is organic waste, the remaining 20% is plastic waste, paper is 11%, iron is 2%, glass is 2%, etc. 5%. When viewed from its type, plastic waste is trash with a considerable volume and requires a very long time to decompose. If plastic waste is not reduced and managed well it will become a long-term problem. To overcome the waste problem, all stakeholders in the field of tourism and the environment in Bali Province must be involved.

            The government as a policymaker has issued various regulations to overcome the problem of waste. The government at the central level has established regulations related to waste management including Law No. 18 of 2008 concerning Waste Management (Law 18/2008) and its implementing regulations namely Government Regulation No. 81 of 2012 concerning Management of Household Waste and Waste that Similar With Household Waste (PP 81/2012) as well as the Minister of Environment Regulation No. 13 of 2012 concerning Guidelines for the Implementation of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Through Waste Banks (Permen LH 13/2012). At the regional level, the Provincial Government of Bali has also established a number of regional regulations to deal with the waste problem, including the Bali Provincial Regulation No. 5 of 2011 concerning Waste Management (Bali Provincial Regulation 5/2011), Bali Governor Regulation No. 97 of 2018 concerning Limitation of Disposable Plastic Waste (Pergub Bali 97/2018), Governor of Bali Regulation No. 47 of 2019 concerning Source-Based Waste Management (Pergub Bali 47/2019). Furthermore, the regional governments at the city/regency level in the Bali Province region has also established local regulations that are in line, including among them the Mayor's of Denpasar Regulation No. 36 of 2018 concerning Reduction in the Use of Plastic Bags (Perwali Denpasar 36/2018) and Badung Regent Regulation No. 47 of 2018 concerning Reduction of the Use of Plastic Bags (Perbup Badung 47/2018).

            All of the regulations related to waste management, including regulations related to waste management from its source on the basis of reduce, reuse and recycle (3R) as well as regulations on reducing plastic waste generation in practice have not been able to overcome the problem of waste in Bali. In general, many people do not know the rules related to waste management, which occurs because the government is incessant in conducting socialization. But the most important and fundamental is how to raise public awareness of the importance of maintaining environmental cleanliness through waste management internally (from within), but if not then the government can implement law enforcement strictly for violations of rules related to waste management. It is expected that public awareness will grow as a result of strict law enforcement, where law enforcement is an external factor in the growth of public awareness. It is hoped that with the implementation of waste management involving all stakeholders including the community as the main producer of waste, the generation of waste that pollutes Bali can gradually decrease and ultimately re-enhance the image of Bali as a world-class tourist destination.