T

hough the Bali provincial administration has set an ambitious target of 30 million foreign-tourist arrivals by 2029, tourism experts on Thursday questioned whether the island'€™s infrastructure could accomodate such a large number of visitors.

Ngurah Wijaya, chairman of the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Tourism Businesses Association (GIPI), reminded the administration not to focus only on the number of tourists, but to ensure the tourism industry was developed in a sustainable way.

'€œWe shouldn'€™t turn the island into a destination for mass tourism. We need to be build more quality tourism in order to attract only quality tourists.'€

He said Bali should develop its tourism in a sustainable way to ensure the island'€™s tourist infrastructure was able to cope with the surge in visitors, as well as the increasing population.

Welcoming more tourists meant the island needed to supply more water and electricity, and provide better facilities and infrastructure, he added.

Bagus Sudibya, an advisor of the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Tour and Travel Agents Association (Asita), shared similar concerns about the sustainability of tourism development.

To measure the '€œcarrying capacity'€ of a tourist destination, he said, one needed to compare geographic size with the existing population. In the case of Bali, the island has a land area of 5,659 square kilometers and a total population of approximately 4.2 million.

He said the target was attainable as long as the resort island improved the quality of its infrastructure. As it stood, he said, Bali was unable to accommodate such a large number of visitors, especially if tourism development remained concentrated in certain areas.

'€œIf Bali wants to attract 30 million tourists, the problems of unchecked development, [poor] infrastructure, [lack of] public transportation, and basic things like traffic and cleanliness need to be addressed,'€ he said.

Facilities for tourists should be improved in all regencies, not just in south Bali,'€ he added.

On Wednesday, Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika submitted the province'€™s tourism road map for 2014 and 2029 to Bali councilors.

He expressed optimism that Bali could attract 30 million foreign visitors by 2029.

The governor cited the city-state of Singapore, which, though far smaller than Bali, has been able to accommodate 37 million tourists each year.

Sudibya said Singapore was able to welcome more visitors than Bali, despite its smaller size, because it made tourists feel comfortable.

'€œBali is able to do the same, but the infrastructure should be improved. We need to make sure tourism development is balanced in all regencies, not just concentrated in south Bali.'€

Both Wijaya and Sudibya emphasized that the development of tourism should preserve the island'€™s culture and bring the utmost benefit to the local people.

Bali Tourism Agency head Yuniartha Putra said the provincial administration would closely work with the island'€™s nine regencies to implement the road map.

'€œWe will discuss further with the regency administrations, especially on how to improve the quality of tourist sites and infrastructure in each regency,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

Other urgent issues the administration needed to address included the state of cleanliness and tourist facilities, as well as the capacity of human resources, he said.

He added that Bali should develop new destinations across the island to stay relevant amid the rapid expansion of the tourist industry.

This year, Bali is expecting to attract 4 million foreign tourists and anticipates considerable growth in the number of foreign visitors following the government'€™s policy to waive visa requirements for visitors from some countries. The target is an increase of 500,000 visitors compared with last year'€™s projection of 3.5 million visitors.