Overtourism, Land Use Change, and Environmental Carrying Capacity: Policy Gaps in Bali Tourism Governance

Rendi Rusgian; Hamka Hamka

doi:10.63922/ijevss.v5i04.6567

Rendi Rusgian NIPA School of Administration Jakarta, Indonesia
Hamka Hamka NIPA School of Administration Jakarta, Indonesia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.63922/ijevss.v5i04.6567

Keywords: Overtourism, Tourism Governance, Environmental Carrying Capacity, Land Use Change, Bali Tourism Development.

Abstract

Bali represents the center of Indonesia’s tourism industry, contributing more than half of the regional economy and attracting nearly half of Indonesia’s international tourist arrivals. Rapid tourism growth over the past decade has intensified environmental and spatial pressures, particularly in South Bali, through increasing infrastructure congestion, expansion of tourism amenities, and conversion of agricultural land into tourism-related development. These conditions indicate emerging overtourism pressures and raise critical questions regarding the operationalization of Environmental Carrying Capacity within Bali’s tourism governance. This study aims to analyze policy gaps in managing overtourism by examining how Environmental Carrying Capacity principles are translated into tourism and spatial planning policies in Bali. The research employs a qualitative case study approach using policy document analysis, secondary tourism statistics, and simple spatio-temporal analysis based on historical satellite imagery during the 2014 to 2024 period. The findings reveal that tourism growth in Bali has been accompanied by rapid expansion of tourism amenities concentrated in South Bali, particularly in Badung and Gianyar. Spatial analysis indicates continuing agricultural land conversion and urban expansion despite the existence of sustainability-oriented tourism and spatial planning policies. The study concludes that tourism governance in Bali remains strongly growth-oriented and that Environmental Carrying Capacity has not been effectively operationalized in development control mechanisms. This research contributes to tourism governance studies by positioning land use change as a spatial indicator for understanding policy gaps in tourism-dependent destinations.

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