SWOT stands for:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunites
Threats

In shaping the future of an enterprise, one regularly analyses its STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES and THREATS to choose the best path forward.

We need to remember the STRENGTHS and OPPORTUNITIES Bali has, and that will encourage work on the WEAKNESSES, and defense against the THREATS. I think guidebooks and brochures and tourism magazines emphasise the STRENGTHS, perhaps to excess, so no point in listing them here.

The OPPORTUNITES as I see them:

Chance to become a truly high-quality, respected, elite but also affordable centre for tourism LONG TERM (by avoiding the mistakes made elsewhere, and learning from the successes).

Chance to maintain environmental and land use balance before it is too late . . . there is still an opportunity, but not for much longer if things continue as they are now.

Increased understanding and appreciation of the culture and traditions of Bali and their value both in Bali for the Balinese, and for tourists and the world beyond. (Glo-BALI-sasi . . . influence going both ways . . . Balification of the globe as a counterpart to the globalisation of Bali.

Visit Indonesia Year 2008 . . . use this opportunity (despite its weaknesses) as well as is possible.

Increased name recognition and awareness as a result of the Climate Change Conference . . . still time to take advantage of that.

New Media - - - getting Bali online, on everyone’s screens, in a sophisticated way can put Bali ahead of its competitors in the tourism sphere.

Now for some of the WEAKNESSES.

The “inflated price” syndrome is one of the WEAKNESSES. Others are the severely degraded environment, poor town planning for growth, uncontrolled urbanisation, short-termism (greed, sacrificing future benefits for quick money), high visa and airport fees, bad infrastructure, poor education, failure to manage intensive inmigration to Bali, no Rule of Law, legal structures that discourage high quality investment, failure to effectively use new media and technology, cronyism, corruption, poor government, distorted system for election of leaders, poor health care, poor public health systems . . . aduh banyak.

And many of these WEAKNESSES are inter-related. For example, poor education leads to short-termism and greed as people are unable to understand how to manage their assets in a wise way for maximum long-term benefit. It also leads to irresponsible custodianship of the environment and bad planning. Corruption is related to poor infrastructure, poor education, poor health care, poor public health, bad planning, bad government, no rule of law, and environmental degradation. Almost every weakness listed above feeds others, and so on and so on and so on. So there is no room for complacency about any of them.

But no need for despair, the STRENGTHS and OPPORTUNITIES for Bali are great - - even greater than the WEAKNESSES, I believe. However, those strengths and opportunities can never yield real, long-term benefits for the population of Bali (and visitors) unless the weaknesses are addressed, urgently, to prevent THREATS from becoming realities.

The THREATS as I see them:

Degradation of the quality of the tourism “product” to the point that Bali’s appeal declines, and tourism decreases in quality and/or quantity.

Economic downturn in countries which provide steady stream of tourism coupled with failure to promote Bali to the right echelons of society in countries on the rise economically.

Increased price of air travel (due to rising oil prices, costs of anti-terrorism), reducing numbers of leisure travellers worldwide, and especially for Bali, because a large portion of its tourism dollars come from relatively distant countries.

Terrorism incident occurring again, which would crush the tourism-based economy.

Earthquake, eruption or tsunami occurring, with similar results.

Outbreak of bird flu, dengue fever, cholera or malaria, with similar results.

Increased violent crime, with similar results.

Continued degradation of the environment being exposed in the international media, with similar results.

Growth of prostitution and sex tourism damaging the reputation of Bali and the quality of its tourism “product”, with similar results.

I have just returned from a trip to Europe, and so I’m looking at Bali for the moment, with “fresh eyes.”