Ecotourism in a developing island destination : -A field study of Bali

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate how ecotourism impact on Balinese traditional lifestyle through economic, sociocultural and environmental structures. A field study was conducted in the island of Bali, Indonesia where the researcher investigated the situation of traditional living and how it is perceived by local people and eco-friendly businesses. The research method used was a deductive and qualitative research as this method seemed to be most suitable for this research. The result shows that ecotourism makes impact on traditional lifestyle. Whether it is for the better or worse are difficult to say as people have different opinions on what is important. While some impacts show positive results such as employment, infrastructure, encourage of traditional practices, there are also negative impacts such as cultural adulteration and staged traditional practices. Before, traditional living in Bali were self-sufficient in agriculture and to provide food for its inhabitants. Now they are becoming more vulnerable due to ecotourism and they are dependent on others for food. On the other hand, ecotourism has contributed to modern conveniences and better infrastructure which improves the living conditions for local people in rural areas. Balinese traditional lifestyle cannot be completely excluded from ecotourism development, as tourism is a major catalyst of change. However, the traditional lifestyle could be used as a foundation for future Balinese structure when keeping the balance between pleasing ecotourists while at the same time conserving for traditional living.