The relationship between destination competitiveness and residents’ quality of life: lessons from Bali

This study examined whether increasing tourism competitiveness in destination like Bali translates into increasing social welfare for the host communities. The paper uses a framework introduced by Kim and Wicks (2010) to investigate how destination competitiveness has affected residents’ livelihoods and quality of life in Bali. Fieldwork took place over four weeks in Bali using a rapid rural appraisal approach with qualitative data collection techniques. A total number of 28 in-depth, semi-structured interviews were carried out during June with an average duration of 1.5 hours. Besides doing interviews, direct observations and notes were taken to ensure self-reflection in qualitative fieldwork, and then interview data were analysed using Nvivo software. Respondents were selected using convenience sampling and contacts with key stakeholders in the tourism industry including government officials who were made using snowballing technique. Key themes that emerged through the interviews suggest that socio-economic prosperity is not guaranteed although a destination appears successful. The findings show that the economic prosperity that is normally perceived from a successful competitive destination like Bali does not always translate to increased social welfare. The tourism competitiveness framework leading to better socio-economic prosperity is partially demonstrated. Our research found that Bali’s success has brought an improvement in quality of life for the Balinese but only to a limited extent. Our paper is the first attempt to investigate the link between destination competitiveness and host community quality of life as seen on the Kim and Wicks model.