Ancient Religious Sites as Tools for Sustainable Tourism Development: An Empirical Study in the North of Bali

Bali, a thousand temple island, is an ideal destination for spiritual tourism with magnificent temples containing a variety of unique religious carvings, statues, and ornaments. The beauty of Bali’s religious rituals, social and cultural events, and cultural performances underpin its spiritual tourism. An emerging body of literature has reported spiritual tourism and spiritual tourism is one of the pillars of sustainable tourism development (UNWTO, 2015). Religious tourism is a growing segment with significant economic impacts, however, limited research focuses on developing spiritual tourism and none of this in the North of Bali. This research takes a qualitative case study approach to investigate the potential of ancient religious sites in the North of Bali for religious tourism, and its use as a tool for sustainable development. Data were obtained through observations, documentation and in-depth interviews. This research involved twenty qualitative interviews with Bali tourism stakeholders, including community leaders, spiritual leaders and tourism officers. The research was guided by questions about the history of the temples; their ancient artefacts; the rules of the temple that tourists have to adhere to; how spiritual tourism could be developed in the North of Bali, and; how the local economy might benefit by the development of spiritual tourism. The findings show that the ancient religious sites in the North of Bali can be divided into three clusters based on the geography and the age of the temples: (1) the west cluster, which includes Pulaki Temple, Pemuteran Temple, Melanting Temple, Pabean Temple and KertaKawat Temple; (2) the center cluster which includes Pemulungan Agung Gobleg Temple and Labuan Aji Temple; and (3) the east cluster, which includes Puncak Sinunggal Temple and Ponjok Batu Temple. This study contributes to the emerging field of spiritual tourism by providing the historical aspect of each site, photos documentation, and an explanation of the history and spirit of the destination based on lontar (ancient manuscripts written on palm leaves). Finally, the paper provides recommendations on a strategy to develop spiritual tourism in the North of Bali and improve the livelihoods of local communities

Dive tourism in Luganville, Vanuatu: shocks, stressors and vulnerability to climate change

Luganville is a developing dive tourism destination region (DTDR) in Vanuatu, which relies on tourism. This article reports on the shocks and stressors faced by Luganville’s dive tourism sector and climate change’s exacerbation of these. The study’s methodology was based on rapid rural appraisal and case study principles, involving methods of semistructured interviews, group discussions, and personal observations. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Key shocks identified include cyclones, earthquakes, effect on demand due to media footage, and changes to international flights. Main stressors were starfish outbreaks and environmental degradation. Unlike the indigenous communities, expatriates show little concern for the potential impact of climate change, presenting response challenges that must incorporate different perspectives to develop effective adaptation options. Special Issue : scuba diving touris

Using a Regional Tourism Adaptation Framework to Determine Climate Change Adaptation Options for Victoria's Surf Coast

This paper reports research into adaptation to climate change for regional tourism destinations. It explains the application of a regional tourism adaptation framework model to the Surf Coast destination, within the state of Victoria, Australia. It then examines the usefulness of the framework model in guiding a vulnerability resilience assessment of the destination and developing strategies to increase the destinations resilience, resistance and readiness. A Delphi study was conducted, using a panel of experts, to determine the major risks and opportunities for tourism in the region as well as appropriate adaptation options. Although many of the findings focused on the best way to manage the negative bio-physical impacts of climate change, such as increased bushfire risk or more frequent and intense storms, several opportunities also became apparent including the potential to reduce seasonality. Tourism destination management is already a complex area and the introduction of climate change provides yet another challenge for managers and policy-makers. Consequently, the development and use of a regional adaptation framework can play an important role in assisting destination planning and management