Bali tourism yet to discover spiritual side
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
Bali has been billed as one of the world’s top spiritual tourism destinations, but its potential has yet to be fully tapped, a seminar has heard.
Wayan Wijayasa, an industry observer from the Denpasar Tourism Academy, told a seminar at the International Bali-India Yoga Festival that while Bali already has plenty of hotels offering spiritual elements, such as yoga classes, there remains huge growth potential in the sector.
He said the untapped potential to develop such tourism came mainly from Western countries, whose citizens were keen to learn Eastern philosophy. Citing research conducted in the United States, Wijayasa said there were 16.5 million adults in the US alone who practiced yoga.
“If only 1 percent of that figure visited Bali for spiritual tourism, then there would be at least 160,000 yoga tourists to Bali in a year,” the Jakarta Post quoted Wijayasa as saying. He also suggested that Bali manufacture and export yoga equipment.
Ketut Narya, head of research and development at the Bali Tourism Agency, admitted that despite the huge potential, the island had yet to draw up a clear concept on how to develop its spiritual tourism product.
“The administration strongly supports efforts to develop spiritual tourism in Bali,” Narya said. “We will soon devise a concept to develop spiritual tourism as a way to enhance, enrich and broaden the tourism products we already have.”
Comments are closed.