Influencer paradise, Bali has become a victim of his own success

Bali, the famous tropical paradise of Indonesia, has charmed many tourists over the years.

But that also leaves an increasing number disillusioned – recently, among which Zoe Rae.

“Since landing in Bali, something for us simply did not seem completely correct,” she said in a YouTube video in July, filmed in her hotel room.

“We came to Bali with high expectations because we had seen on social networks that everyone has a good time.”

She added: “If you took a photo of the coffee and zoomers, you would see what was the reality.”

Ms. Rae did not describe the reality she saw – nor answered questions from the BBC. But it was disturbing enough to make his book an impromptu flight for Dubai to continue celebrating his wedding anniversary there instead.

He doesn’t need to look for clues far.

Publications on social networks on “Reality vs expectations” in Bali abound.

The guests enjoying sunset in a restaurant on the beach side – and the heaps of waste along the stimulating stairs to get there.

The pose dressed in bikini in front of a waterfall, while a line of winding tourists awaits their tower of slippery rocks.

The outdoor smoothies with bamboo straws, right next to soot motorcycles stuck on blocked roads.

Millions of people flock to Bali each year in search of the Shangri-La Spiritual promised in Memoirs and Movies Eat, Pray, Pray, Love.

What they are welcomed instead are the crowds, traffic and the construction cacophony, which has increased in parallel with a post-pandemic boom in tourism.

The growing tension on the island had produced a lot of rolls and grunts for the eyes, but the events of this month took a dark turn.

More than a dozen people died in rare floods on the island. Malness of waste and uncontrolled urban development had aggravated the situation, officials said.

The local government has since announced that it would restrict a new construction. But many see interventions such as too little, too late.

How did Bali celebrate for decades as “last paradise”, did it come to this point?

Western adventurers have been in Bali since the beginning of the 20th century, when he was considered an exotic sailor, which houses Hindu temples and rice fields.

Spirituality and a reverence for nature are deep: monkeys, cows and birds have a sacred importation, the big ancient trees would be spirits, and the popular treading volcano Mount Batur is protected by a goddess.

Bali was “one of the first places where there was all this speech on utopia and great beauty and culture,” explains Gisela Williams, a travel writer based in Berlin who has visited the island since the 90s.

“It was the Balinese Hindu culture that created this myth of the place.”

Over the past decade, tourism on the island is soaring, from 3.8 million visitors in 2014 to 6.3 million last year.

This year seems to be a record: the island appears on the right track to accommodate more than seven million foreign tourists.

Rather than unique or idyll traditions, Bali is now better known for its beach clubs and surf houses.

Alcohol is easily available and rare clothes are more acceptable compared to the rest of Indonesia. And most visitors also want to immerse themselves in luxury hotels, villas and spas of Bali.

“You have a lot of Westerners who really benefit from the affordability of a luxury lifestyle,” explains Ms. Williams. “Since social media took over, it’s a very superficial way to understand a place … you just see a photo, then you go.”

Zoe Rae’s disillusionment with the reality she met in Bali explains the idealized image held by many occasional travelers.

Responding to Mr. Rae’s post, Hollie Marie, a creator of British content living in Bali, warned in a Tiktok video that “only the research of Bali on Instagram will give you a distorted reality of the island itself”.

“The problem with Bali is that people come here and only stay in certain areas because they want to see pretty cafes, visit Instagrammable places. And they lack the fact that Bali is an island very rich in culture,” Ms. Marie told the BBC.

Those who live there or have explored beyond obvious lairs, will tell you that the natural beauty of Bali is alive, explorations of dolphin and diving, with lush landscape in the quieter north.

The island is “a lot, much more” than the “festive places” that tourists tend to visit, says Canny Claudya, who moved to Bali from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

“If you think Bali is overcrowded, then you are not in the right places.”

However, the inhabitants say that their island has certainly changed under the requirements of tourism.

And when they hear about complaints that it is not the travelers of paradise that have registered, some emphasize that such comments flow from irony.

“When the tourists said they were disappointed that Bali was more congested, they are also part of the crowd,” said Vikannanda, a Balinese researcher who pleads for the protection of nature and the people of the island.

“It’s like when we are in traffic, we are like” why is there so much traffic? “But we are in a car.

Neither Kadek Sintya, twenty-two years old, remembers an era when she is used to setting up her scooter through the silent roads of CanCugu, passed from Paddy where she took a lunch break.

Five years later, CANCUGU has some of the worst traffic on the island. And Mrs. Sintya’s journey to her work in a well-being complex is bordered by villas and cafes, and impatient klonnements follow her all along.

“I would not take the trouble to stop, even less to rest,” she said. “Now, every time I pass by this place where I sat (on), there is this feeling of sadness. I think Bali is eroded day by day.”

While tourism is increasing, hotels, cafes and bars have moved away from the south congestioned from the island.

The last Hipster destination is CANCUGU, an formerly sleepy fishing village which has become a magnet for surfers around the world.

Canggu follows the traces of other districts, from Uluwatu to Seminyak, silent backwaters who have transformed while tourists are looking for new “hidden jewels”.

This migration has seen fashionable cafes, gymnasiums and co-work spaces appear along narrow rural roads.

Pererenan, to the north, is now greeted as a more relaxed Canggu.

Further north, in the forests of Ubud, seaside resorts are marked as a sanctuary to escape the agitation of the South.

“There is a real wrestling-22,” explains Ms. Marie. “On the one hand, it’s always a good thing to encourage people to visit different areas … But I think there is also a danger to that, because it will encourage people to build everywhere and anywhere.”

In addition, she adds: “People treat Bali a bit like a playground”.

Barely a month goes without difficulty behaving in the tourists who make the headlines: they were in serious accidents after having set up intoxicated scooters or without helmets; Foreigners were expelled to be naked on sacred sites; Others were in trouble for drunk fights.

Thousands of Russians and Ukrainians who settled in Bali added thousands of Russians and Ukrainians who settled in Bali after fled the war.

The head of the head of the National Narcotic of Indonesia recently warned of an increasing problem with the Russians and the Ukrainians engaging in criminal activities in Bali.

Local resentment is increasing, vigilants of social media putting a bad understanding of tourists on the explosion – even if the Balinese maintain their world famous hospitality.

“Many tourists think because they are them with money to spend on our island, we, the inhabitants, should agree with everything they do,” said Ms. Sintya, who, like many generation, was on the stability of a career in tourism.

“I can have the impression of being trapped,” she says, “because we live on tourism. So, if we stop tourism, what will we survive?”

Despite the “uncontrolled growth” of tourism, Mr. Vikannanda, the researcher, thinks that “Bali’s development and the harmony of nature can still be maintained”.

“I am always optimistic. Especially with the participation of young people.”

Indeed, companies and activists have launched efforts to encourage sustainable development, from education to waste management with beach cleanings.

The authorities, who have been criticized for not having regulated tourism, are also trying to clean the island.

Earlier this year, Bali prohibited single -use plastics and has published behavior directives to visitors to “ensure that Bali tourism remains respectful, durable and harmony with our local values”.

Police have been deployed in popular areas to ensure that visitors respect the rules.

“The Indonesian government has come to understand that Bali is also a natural asset, it is not only a tourist market to exploit,” said Maria Shollenbarger, editor -in -trip to the Financial Times How to Speach It, told the BBC.

“Bali is a crucible in many ways to surprise,” she said.

“But it doesn’t matter where you are going to the world, I think it is important that people remember that it is up to you, the traveler, to get responsible for the destination.”