Bali Studies

New tourism brand invokes Bali of peace

(The Jakarta Post)

Following six months of intensive research, which included direct interviews with hundreds of Balinese residents and foreign visitors, the local government has finally unveiled its new tourism brand for the resort island.

The new brand is expected to unite the tourism industry under a single flag and battle cry in an effort to elevate the vital economic sector, which had been paralyzed by two terrorist attacks, environmental degradation and the locals' increasing resentment toward tourism development.


"We hope this brand will give us new energy in our struggle to recover the industry, which for decades has been the backbone of the island's economy," Bali Tourism Agency head Nurdjaya said.

The new brand -- comprising a logo, a tagline and a series of strategic recommendations -- centers around the vision of making Bali known as "The World's Place of Harmonious Peace".

Teguh Mahasari, the engine behind the so-called Bali Reborn team responsible for preparing the new tourism brand, said the vision was the key, recurring message conveyed by a large majority of the research participants.

"It genuinely reflects the true aspiration of the Balinese people as well as the visitors'. Harmony, balance, peace and spirituality are several major themes that kept appearing in our interviews with people from a wide spectrum of society," she said.

In the course of their research, the Bali Reborn team interviewed 900 Balinese individuals, from Hindu high priests to academic scholars, and from farmers to housewives in every regency of the island.

The results showed that over 50 percent believed "paradise" or "heaven" was the image that most correctly described Bali. This was followed by "balance" at 26.5 percent of respondents then by "harmony" at 21.9 percent. Curiously, "vacation" was only selected as the most suitable image by 16.5 percent of respondents.

Moreover, they also listed temple, culture, traditional customs and arts as the island's most precious heritage. A staggering 73.5 percent majority viewed the temple as the perfect icon to represent Bali.

Meanwhile, 37.3 percent of 327 foreign visitors to Bali recalled "Island of the Gods" as the island's most popular tagline. Only a minuscule 5.8 percent considered it to be Bali is My Life", the most recent tagline, as popular.

"The team analyzed and interpreted the findings and then came up with this new brand," Teguh said.

The brand concept was based on the ancient Balinese Hindu principle of Tri Hita Karana, the harmonious and balanced relationship between three primary elements: mankind, nature and God.

"That's the philosophy behind our triangular-shaped logo. The triangle perfectly captures the stable relationship between the three elements," Teguh said.

The spiritual nature of the brand is further reflected in the colors of the logo -- red, black and white, the colors respectively associated with the Balinese Hindu trinity of Brahma, Wisnu (Vishnu) and Siwa (Shiva).

The final touch was the tagline "Shanti, Shanti, Shanti", obviously taken from the daily Balinese Hindu prayer of Tri Sandhya. Literally meaning peace, shanti and its repetitive chant is a sacred invocation for a reign of peace in the three worlds -- the under, middle and upper.

"Frankly, we want this brand to inspire the Balinese as much as the foreign visitors. With the increasing internal conflicts among Balinese, the people of this island needs peace as much as any other in this world," Teguh stressed.

-- I Wayan Juniartha

posted by andersonite @ 4:19 PM