Beautiful places with friendly, hospitable people tend to initially welcome adventurous backpacking youngsters, followed by nature-loving older tourists. Too often, these paradise destinations are then being discovered by enormous numbers of other, less culture- and nature-loving, foreign tourists and residents.
This development took place on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten, where, intially, in the Seventies of last century, beauty-loving wealthy Americans and Europeans spent their relaxing holidays. In the following Eighties and Nineties, St. Maarten attracted a different kind of tourist. The one that was involved in dubious, sometimes plain criminal, activitities and a new breed of foreign residents on the island was born.
The Thai beach resort of Pattaya had to cope with a similar trend, whereby, since the Eighties, criminals from Europe flocked to the once pristine fishing town and never left.
Another example is the Indonesian island of Bali, which is under threat from increasing numbers of, sometimes dubious, foreign residents. Whereas in the Seventies and Eighties, a small number of thrill-seeking surfers and peace-loving older couples took up residency on the island, the island is now being flooded by tens of thousands of "other" foreign residents.
Currently, an estimated 60,000 bule (Westerners) are living on Bali with a KITAS (temporary residency permit). This number does not include Japanese, Korean and other Asians. And this number does also not include Westerners who fly in and out of the island to Singapore or the Australian city of Darwin, on a business visa, which may even double that number !
Unfortunately, Bali seems to increasingly attract "people who have not succeeded in their business elsewhere, are drifters or surfers (who believe they should stay and open a business)", explains a long-time resident. "Most of the bule live on a bare minimum and plenty of them turn into crooks", he continues. According to Bali police, crimes committed by foreigners are up by 39% this year, ranging from ATM fraud to narcotics.
In 2008, in my report, titled Bali: Paradise Lost ?, I already raised the matter of over-crowding by foreign residents, which has an enormous impact on the island's resources, infrastructure and real estate sector. Subscribers to Business Trends Asia, can access this report on http://www.businesstrendsasia.com/newsletter.php?id=25&lang=en
This article appeared earlier on www.businesstrendsasia.com
