The number of foreign tourists visiting Bali may have increased over the past decade, but the time and money spent by each visitor is falling. ‘
Bali Tourism Board chairman Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya, quoted by the Jakarta Globe, said stingy tourists are overcrowding Bali, and residents who rely on tourism for their livelihoods are not reaping the benefits.
"It’s ironic. We want people to come but when they come we have serious problems of traffic and waste. The island becomes dirty," he said.
According to the Bali Statistics Agency, 2.8 million foreign tourists visited the island last year, up from 2.6 million in 2010.
However, their average length of stay has fallen from a week to three or four days, while daily spending has decreased from $300 10 years ago to $100, Ngurah said.
Bali has begun to lose its cultural charm and exclusivity due to the crowded conditions, he said, driving away "quality tourists" like those from Europe.
Further criticism of Bali’s increasing over-development, pollution and traffic problems has come from world surfing champion Kelly Slater.
Slater tweeted to his more than 180,000 followers that Bali’s once-pristine beaches had been devastated by pollution.
"If Bali doesn’t do something serious about this pollution it’ll be impossible to surf here in a few years. Worst I’ve ever seen," he tweeted.
