Tourist Motivations to Visit Bali

Tourist Motivations to Visit Bali 2.2 Results and Discussions This section presents the results and discussions of the study, which consists of the results of descriptive data from qualitative approach. It also presents the discussions based on the research findings and relates them with possible reasons based on the secondary data or literature review. The findings are based on data sources from qualitative data conducted by the researcher. The purpose of this section is to answer the objectives of the study, which is to determine the tourist perception towards cultural events in Bali and to explore the motivation of people visiting Bali, especially for its culture. 2.2.1 Level of Interest Level of interest of tourist can be determined as one of the factor that influencing people to choose the particular destination. According to the Rapaports (1975) theory about factor that influencing the customer behaviors which can motivate them to go to the destination. It elaborated through this following topic. 2.2.1.1 Sources about Bali From the in-depth interviews informants conducted, all the informants have ever heard about Bali before. Based on how informants get to know Bali, there are several sources. Most of the informants know Bali from word of mouth from informant’s family and friends. On the other hand, for Indonesian respondent, they know Bali since they were attend school. Beside that, the remaining publicity is from media, like television, books, magazines, brochures; as well as through internet, include travel website. For example informants mentioned that their relatives’ experiences and stories about Bali is one of the reasons that make the respondents go to Bali, below are the statements of informants: â€Å"†¦I will go there. Because my friend told me that the place is nice and the culture is very unique† (French informant/A.4) â€Å"†¦I heard it from my parents, because my parents had their honeymoon there, and they said it was really beautiful island† (Singaporean informant/A.10) 2.2.1.2 Attending Balinese Cultural Event Tourists; who never been and have been to Bali before; indicated that five informants have high interest in attending cultural events in Bali, otherwise there is three informants said that they might be interested in attending cultural events. And the remaining two informants do not have interest in attending cultural events. According to Morgan (1996), the respondent answers of ‘maybe’ could be a huge potential if these respondents can be converted to ‘interested’ respondents. In Morgan’s model for decision making, it categorized into 5 main steps, such as: Problem recognition (don’t know market) Information search (maybe market) Evaluation of alternatives Choice of purchase Evaluation of post-purchase experience As for the maybe market, marketers can use advertisements to create the need for attending the cultural events by sending mails or using media like distributing materials that have information on the cultural events to create their awareness. Findings from interviews by looking at their age group of traveler indicated that most of the traveler that interested in Balinese cultural events is older traveler, whereas four informants said that attending cultural events is one of their purposes of traveling to Bali and the remaining informantsaid not really interest to attend cultural events. One of the informants thought that people who attended the cultural events will have a better understanding about the Balinese tradition, which can see his/her statements below: â€Å"†¦as I told you before I want to learn more about their Balinese tradition through their cultural events† (Indonesian informant/B.6) Other respondents thought that differences of cultural events between their country of origin and Bali makes them interested to attend the cultural event in Bali. â€Å"†¦I’m quite interested with Balinese culture event, because their event is very different with our Japanese cultural events†. (Japanese informant/B.7) Meanwhile for younger traveler; only one respondent interested in Balinese cultural events. Another one informant said that he/she will not attend the cultural events in Bali because he/she does not have any interest in culture. The remaining three informants stated that attending cultural events in Bali is not a main purpose but they might decide to attend when they are in Bali. One of respondent of young traveler stated that she might attend the cultural event because she curious about it. â€Å"†¦but I’m just a bit curious for their cultural dances. So maybe I’ll attend there. (Singaporean informant/A.10) Based on the type of cultural events which respondents have the intention to attend, it indicated that six informants show high interest in their intention to attend a cultural festival rather than cultural dances. They mentioned their interest in cultural festival, such as Nyepi, Ngaben, Temple Festival, and Tooth Filling. Most of them interested to attend the Nyepi festival. For example, some informants describe Nyepi festival as seen below: â€Å"†¦ I heard that during Nyepi, everyone have to stay in their house and doing nothing, only pray to their god. My friend said that Bali is like a death island while Nyepi†. (Malaysian informant/B.3) â€Å"†¦ I heard that it only happens once a year. It is a day that whole of Bali Island remains silent.† (Malaysian informant/A.5) â€Å"†¦As a visitor in Bali, we have to stay at their hotel, because the community asked the visitor who stays in Bali should be obey with the rule of their tradition. No one will be hanging around and there is no activity during Nyepi.† (Indonesian informant/B.6) The other four informants refer to attend cultural dances rather than cultural festival. All of them interested to attend the famous â€Å"Kecak† dance. One of them describe Kecak dance as seen below: â€Å"†¦ the famous Monkey dance which as I know also known as Kecak dance.† (French informant/A.4) 2.2.1.3 Sources about Balinese Cultural Event In terms of the sources on how the informants know about cultural event in Bali, it indicated that most of the informants said that they ever heard about Balinese cultural event from school or college. They said that they have been learned it before. The statements regarding with sources as seen below: â€Å"†¦From school, I knew it from my geography teacher.† (Indonesian informant/A.8) â€Å"†¦I heard from my lecture.† (Malaysian informant/A.5) Beside that, the others also mentioned on how they know about cultural event in Bali such as the recommendations from friends, as well as a print publications like magazines, brochure, and travel books. As for the international tourists, internet and travel agents are the common sources on how they discover about the Balinese cultural events. Discussion: According to Picard (1996), Bali is one of the primary destinations in Indonesia, and well-known as an international destination, whereby most of the respondents said that they ever heard about Bali before. Even some of them do not really know about Balinese culture, but they still recognize Bali as one of the famous tourist attraction in the world. Regarding on how the informants know about Bali, it indicated that word of mouth from friends and family’s references is one of the source as well as influence them to travel to Bali. Based on the Rapaports (1975) and Morgan (1996) theory of social influences on customer behavior, reference group is the most influencing way on how they discover about the destination. Family and friends are called ‘primary reference group’ which is a group who influence the behavior to whom they come into close contact; by sharing their experiences about the destination. Most of them reveal that they want to go Bali because of good experiences from their relatives. Tourism is become the largest economy’s industry in Bali, especially its cultural tourism. A Balinese cultural event is one of major tourist activities as well as a tourist attraction. Therefore most of the informants; both tourists who never been and have been to Bali before; have a high interest in attending the cultural events in Bali. By looking at their age group categories, research findings indicated that older traveler is more interested to attend the cultural events rather than the younger traveler. Younger travelers might decide to attend, but attending the cultural event is not their purpose to go to Bali. On the other hand, older travelers reveal that attending cultural event is one of their main purposes to visit Bali. Firstly, there is a cultural arts-core for a tourist who has interest in culture and seen cultural event as primary element and attends the cultural event is a main purpose. Some of the older traveler categories into this level of interest in attend the cultural event. Secondly, cultural arts-incidental is for a tourist who seen a cultural event less important than other attraction but could be either attraction or an amenity, and attend the cultural event is their secondary purpose. Most of the older traveler is under this category, where they points out that attending cultural events is one of their purpose but not their main purpose. Cultural arts-accidental is for a tourist who view cultural events may not be an attraction but an amenity, but they might be interest in attending a cultural event. Most of the younger traveler is under this category. They might be interested in cultural event, but attending the cultural events is not their purpose. Lastly, Non-cultural art is for a tourist who not interested in culture, they also do not seen cultural events as an attraction or amenity, attending cultural events is not their purpose and they will not attend it. One respondent of younger traveler is under this category, where he/she revealed that he/she does not have interested in any cultural event. Based on the type of cultural events that the respondents have intention to attend, most of them intend in attending cultural festival rather than cultural dances, with Nyepi festival as their preferable festival that they want to attend. According to Ida Bagus Rata (2004), Nyepi festival has made Bali a unique island as well as a day to make and keep the balance of nature. He points out that Nyepi represents the suspension of all activity in the island preliminary to chasing out the evil vibration that has accumulated during the year. This is followed by a day of absolute silence, the suspension of all activity, from which the ceremony takes its name. Nyepi marks the New Year. On Nyepi, the tourists are not allowed to step aside of their hotel. All activity should remain inside the hotel. Even though most of the respondents have not attend this festivals before, but their knowledge about the description on how the Nyepi festival held is relatively in a correct way. Kecak dance is the most well-known dances in Bali (Seminar on Tourism,1977). Therefore most of the respondent who interested in cultural dance mentioned that Kecak dance is the cultural dance that they want to attend. But they can not describe on what the dance about. One of the respondent only can mentioned about Monkey dance which Kecak is also known as. The source of how the respondent knows about Balinese cultural dance mostly is from school and college. The others also mentioned about word of mouth from friends and family; mass media like newspaper, magazines, brochures; internet and also information from the travel agents. Therefore marketers need to take notes of the implication here. If the local or domestic market is targeted, they should create more awareness by using an attractive advertisement materials as well as articles. As for the international market, they should update and maintained the tourism board as well as travel website by spreading the information on cultural events which had happened as well as the future events. Distribution channels and networking are essential for international tourists due to their high dependence on tour operator and travel agents. It is important to create awareness for international tourist, so they can discover the unique points of the unusual cultural events in Bali. 2.2.2 Motivational Factor Beside the level of interest, those theories on tourists’ travel motivation that have been discussed in literature review part is can be helpful in this study to identify the Balinese cultural events as one of the motivational factor for tourist to travel to Bali. Therefore, these following topics have been elaborate to explore the tourist motivations travel to Bali. 2.2.2.1 Reason Tourist Traveling to Bali Based on the reason on why people want travel to Bali, most of the informants revealed that they prefer go to Bali because of the famous beaches there. For example, some of the informants thought that the beautiful beaches in Bali is one of the reasons why they want to travel there, below are the statements of respondents: â€Å"†¦and I also want to see their beach, because many people says that Bali have a beautiful beaches† (Indonesian informant/B.1) â€Å"†¦because Bali have beautiful beaches† (Korean informant/A.2) Beside the famous Bali beaches, the other informants also mentioned that the unique Balinese culture and attractive tourist attraction; friendliness of local people; and their interest in shopping, especially local art market, is also the reasons that affect them to go traveling to Bali. One of the respondents thought that shopping in Balinese local art market is cheap, which can see their statement below: â€Å"†¦because I want to see their famous cheap art market.† (Indonesian informant/B.1) 2.2.2.2 Purpose of Trip As for the tourist that been to Bali, most of the informants reveal that the purpose of their trip to Bali mostly is for holiday with family or friends. One of the informants stated that his/her purpose is for business trips like seminar, training and also research purposes. â€Å"I have a lot of purposes, because there are different purposes each of my trip, such as vacation, training, seminar, and business trip or doing some research there.† (Indonesian informant/B.6) 2.2.2.3 Other Factors that Motivate Tourist to Bali Besides culture, the factors those motivate informants to go to Bali is to experience their natural attraction like beaches or mountains. Most of them revealed that they want to experience the beach activities; like surfing; below are the statements of respondents: â€Å"Their beaches for surfing! I like surfing.† (French informant/A.4) â€Å"The beach, surfing and the people. I heard that is what Bali’s famous for.† (Malaysian informant/A.5) â€Å"Their natural attraction, especially beaches. I like the wave, it’s good for surfing!† (Singaporean informant/A.10) Findings from interviews by looking at their age group of traveler indicated that most of the younger traveler revealed that the factor that motivated them to go to Bali is to experience the beach activities; like surfing; because as they know Bali is one of the famous destinations for surfing. In terms of the other factors that motivate some of the informants, beside culture, is indicated to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Bali; friendliness of local people; shopping activities; for example one of informants thought his/her motivate factors is for relaxation to escape for the daily life routine activities, as seen below: â€Å"I’ll go there for relax and also to release my stress for daily routine, especially from my work.† (Malaysian informant/B.3) Discussion: The push and pull concept provides reasons as to why people travel. According to, Dann (1977), people are pushed into making travel decisions by internal forces. The other is that they are pulled into travel decisions by external forces such as destination attributes. In other words, push motivation is an internal factor from an individual and increases the desire for people to travel, whereas pull motivation is an external factor that influences people travel which cues of a specific destination that pull people to realize the needs of particular travel experiences, such as natural and historic attractions, food, people, recreation facilities, and marketed image of the destination. Therefore by looking at the reasons on why people traveling to Bali; it indicated that most of the informants will go to Bali to enjoy the natural attraction in Bali. Whereby according to Dann (1977), natural attraction in Bali; like their beaches; is one of the major pull factors that influence people to go traveling to Bali. The other reasons that some of the informants mentioned that influence them to go to Bali such as the uniqueness of Balinese culture; the friendliness of local people; and shopping activities. Here, all the reasons also can be categories into the pull factors. According to Crompton (1979), he points out that the pull motivations help illustrate the actual destination choice, which related to this findings on the reasons why people choose Bali as destination to travel. Regarding on the purpose of trip that tourists that been to Bali before, most of the informants said that their main purpose is for holiday or leisure time. One of the informants also stated the other purpose is for business purpose. Coltman (1930) explained the factors that create a person’s desire to travel; purpose of people to travel; which have been categories into two; such as motivation that related to the destination and not related (Coltman, 1930). Here, most of the informants though that holiday as their main purpose, which can be fall under motivation related to the destination, into the leisure time escape category; that makes tourist to escape from their daily activities, or merely to have a new experience. In contrary, for business purpose can be categories into the motivation not related to the destination. It means that it can give people no choice about going to that destination instead of some others. Tourists’ purposes can be determined as push factor. Push factor is an internal energy to an individual and increases the desire for people to travel. Crompton (1979) mentioned that the push factor have been useful in explaining the desire for travel. It includes the desire for escape, novelty seeking, adventure seeking, dream fulfillment, rest and relaxation, health and fitness, prestige, and socialization. According to the findings, most of the informants reveal that their push factor is to enjoy the holiday with family and friends, which can be categories into the desire for escape, as well as socialization. By looking at the other factors, beside culture, that motivate the informants to visit Bali, such as to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Bali; to relax with friends and family; the friendliness of local people; and shopping activities. According to Gahan and Martin (1993) and Mohr et al. (1993), the informants’ motivations for people visit Bali mostly for escape; inverse in routine daily life activities by enjoying the scenery. It followed by socialization and family togetherness (enjoying themselves being with family and friends); excitement (surfing) and event novelty (shopping). Attending cultural events is under the event novelty, where tourist is experiencing something new and different things because of the uniqueness. 2.2.3 Tourists perception Basically, tourist perception is related to motivation tourist, which can influence traveler’s decision making to travel to the particular destination. To prove that there is a connection between tourist perception and motivation factors, this study explored the various tourist perceptions towards Bali as a tourist destination, as well as their perceptions about Balinese cultural events. 2.2.3.1 Perception about Bali In terms of tourist’s perception about Bali, most of the informants frequently called Bali as a beautiful island, which famous and well-known as international destination. They also stated that Bali is a nice place for relaxation. Some of the informants also thought about Bali with their friendly local people and the wide variety of tourist activities; such as surfing; where some informants mentioned that Bali is famous as surfing destination in the world. Below are the informants’ statements: â€Å"In my opinion, Bali is the island that has been notified by international tourist as one of the beautiful Islands in the world. It is famous as one of the best surfing destination in the world.† (French informant/A.4) â€Å"To me, Bali is a surfing paradise,†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Malaysian informant/A.5) Beside that, some of the informants comments about Bali as an island that rich in culture and historical background, as seen below: â€Å"I heard that there’s also a lot of history and tales about the Island, which also famous with their uniqueness of culture.† (Malaysian informant/A.5) â€Å"I think Bali is very unique, especially their culture with a strong tradition; where everybody who stays in Bali should obey to their tradition† (Indonesian informant/ B.6) The uniqueness of Balinese art and handicraft; with cheaper price in the local art market; as some informants thought that Bali as shopping spree paradise. Below are their statements: â€Å"Bali has their own beautiful handicraft with their unique design.† (Indonesian informant/B.1) â€Å"I love it, like for shopping it’s very cheap there, especially their art traditional market.† (Indonesian informant/B.9) By looking at the age of informants, most of the older traveler indicates that their opinion about Bali as a nice place for relaxing from the daily life routine, as they thought Bali is a peaceful place. In contrary, for younger traveler, their perception about Bali is an exciting destination, with a lot of activities that they can experience there; doing something stimulating; especially their beach activities. Some of younger traveler thought that beaches in Bali are fantastic and a one of the famous destination for surfing activities. 2.2.3.2 Perception about Balinese Cultural Event In terms of the perceptions of tourists toward cultural event, most of the informants revealed that Balinese cultural event has a unique attraction which very attractive. Some of the informants stated that the cultural event in Bali is unique because different with any other culture; especially for foreign tourist, whereby they revealed that it different between Balinese culture and the culture in their country of origin; below are the statements of informants: â€Å"It’s very unique, and quite different with Malaysian culture, especially their festival, like Nyepi.† (Malaysian informant/B.3) â€Å"†¦as I know their culture is very interesting and a lot of traditional dance and festival that very different from my country.† (French informant/A.4) Some of the informants also mentioned other perceptions about Balinese cultural event have a strong connection with their belief or religion, as well as their tradition, which make their cultural events’ as a sacral and very spiritual (mystic). â€Å"Their cultural event is very religious and sacral. Whatever it is, dances or festivals, they always connected with their religion and beliefs.† (Indonesian informant/B.1) â€Å"I think it also a bit mystic.† (Indonesian informant/B.9) â€Å"I felt a bit freaky because it’s very mystic as well as magical.† (Singaporean informant/A.10) Other informants indicated on how the Balinese community performs’ the cultural events in Bali. Some of them thought that the cultural event, especially Balinese cultural dance, is very attractive, energetic and also powerful. â€Å"I think it’s very beautiful, and also the performance was very energetic and powerful!† (Indonesian informant/B.9) â€Å"I think it’s quite interesting and energetic†¦. and they dance with the powerful music.† (Singaporean informant/A.10) For the cultural festival, one informant commented on the way they celebrate it which is family-oriented. â€Å"In my opinion, it’s very family-oriented; it’s good, because even though they don’t have enough money, the Balinese community will be collecting money from their big family to hold their tradition as cultural event.† (Indonesian informant/B.6) Discussion: According to the findings, the tourists’ perceptions towards Bali as one of the most enchanting and well-known travel destination in the world, because of the physical beauty of the island and its natural attraction like their nice beaches. According to Picard (1996), therefore Bali is seen by tourists as the â€Å"Ultimate Island†. Other than the beauty of their natural attraction, some of the informants also revealed that Bali as an island with rich of culture and strong religious tradition. For that reason, Bali is also known as the â€Å"Island of God†, where Hinduism belief influences most of the cultural aspect in Balinese community (Picard, 1996). The tourists’ perception toward Bali is predominantly characterized by the reasons on why people traveling to Bali; and factors that motivates them. Based on Crompton (1979), it shows that there is a connection between the tourist perception about a destination and tourist motivations to travel to the destination. He points out that tourist perception on the particular destination can influence traveler’s decision making in choosing a destination. Therefore tourists’ perception about Bali also can be categorized as the Pull factors based on Dann’s theory (Dann,1977). Regarding the tourists’ perception toward the Balinese cultural events in general, the study indicates that most of informants thought that Balinese cultural event is attractive and very unique, which different with other culture. Other than the uniqueness of cultural event in Bali, some of the informants thought that Balinese cultural events have a strong connection with their religion and spiritual indeed. According to Picard (1996), the cultural and religious are interwoven in Bali. He also stated that tourism in Bali cannot be conceived apart from Balinese culture. In fact, tourism is become the largest economy’s industry in Bali, with cultural tourism is one of the major aspects that contributed to the industry. In terms of the perceptions’ towards characteristics of Balinese cultural events, most of the informants described the cultural dance in Bali is energetic and powerful; and for the cultural festival some of the informants thought that it is family-oriented. By looking at the tourists’ perceptions about cultural events shows the level of understanding and knowledge of the informants toward the Balinese cultural events. Even they do not have a clear perspective in terms of knowledge, but the study shows the good opinion toward Balinese cultural events. Based on the Gahan and Martin (1993), the tourist perceptions’ on a particular event can influence tourist behavior for attending the events. This study shows that good perceptions’ of tourist toward Balinese cultural event will influence them to attend the cultural events; where majority of the informants indicates their interest to attend the cultural event in Bali. 2.2.4 Tourist experience Motivation tourist is related to their intention of visiting the particular destination, which also influence by their perception toward the destination. Tourist experienced the destination to meets their expectation. This can be determined by knowing how their travel behavior during the trip, such as their satisfaction level, destination that they visited, as well as the frequency of visiting Bali. 2.2.4.1 Satisfaction of Trip From the qualitative study conducted to the informants that been to Bali before, all of the informant shows that they have a high satisfaction level while their trip to Bali. Most of the informants reveal that they enjoy the scenery and tourist attractions in Bali, especially the scenery of beaches. â€Å"Yes, because the scenery and the beach is very attractive. I really enjoy it.† (Indonesian informant/A.8) â€Å"I really enjoyed it with my friends and family, especially when I looked at the scenery during sunset! It’s really beautiful.† (Indonesian informant/B.9) Other than that, one of the informants thought that he/she satisfied with the trip because of the price is cheap, like for accommodation, as well as public transportation. â€Å"And my trip is very satisfied! Because it’s very cheap there, the air is fresh and no pollution! The accommodation is also cheap. I stayed near by the Nusa Dua beach. For the transportation, the taxi rate is so cheap.† (Japanese informant/B.7) 2.2.4.2 Destination Visited In terms of the destinations visited, the study indicated that Kuta area is the most popular destination for tourist. Beside that, some of the informants stated that Ubud, Nusa Dua, and Kintamani, as the other destinations that they visited during the trip. Denpasar is the main gateways in Bali; where known as the place of Ngurah Rai International airport of Bali; therefore most of the informants mentioned Denpasar as one of the place that they have been visited. 2.2.4.3 Experience for Attending Cultural Event By looking at the tourists’ experience for attending the cultural events, from five informants, four informants had been attend the cultural event in Bali, and only one informant that did not attend. Most of the informants; that had been attend it before; reveals that they watched the performance in Ubud and Kuta area. â€Å"I watched the dances during night in Ubud.† (Japanese informant/B.7) â€Å"I watched it near by my hotel in Kuta, and it’s very fantastic!† (Indonesian informant/B.9) The most cultural event that had been attended is Kecak dance, and followed by Pendet and Barong dance for the cultural dances. For the cultural festivals and ceremonies, some of the informants mentioned that they have been attending the Ngaben festivals. Whereby, one of the informants reveals that he/she had been attending both of the cultural dances and cultural festivals. â€Å"I have seen Ngaben ceremony and some of their cultural dances, like Kecak and Pendet. Kecak is very attractive dance; there is a meaning behind it. One of the interesting parts is their group cooperation.† (Indonesian informant/B.6) 2.2.4.4 Frequency of Visiting Bali Based on the frequency of visiting Bali, most of the informants stated that it is their first time going to Bali. Whereas one of the informants stated that he/she has gone to Bali for more than twice, at least 4 times a year. â€Å"Not really regularly, but I’ll go there at least 4 times a year.† (Indonesian informant/B.6) By looking at the intention for tourist that never been to Bali before, all the informants reveal that they have an intention for planning to visit Bali someday. Some of them stated that they will visit Bali when they already have enough money to go there. â€Å"I have to see my saving first.† (Korean informant/A.2) â€Å"Yes, when I have enough money, surely I’ll go there. (Indonesian informant/B.1) From the qualitative study, i Tourist Motivations to Visit Bali Tourist Motivations to Visit Bali 2.2 Results and Discussions This section presents the results and discussions of the study, which consists of the results of descriptive data from qualitative approach. It also presents the discussions based on the research findings and relates them with possible reasons based on the secondary data or literature review. The findings are based on data sources from qualitative data conducted by the researcher. The purpose of this section is to answer the objectives of the study, which is to determine the tourist perception towards cultural events in Bali and to explore the motivation of people visiting Bali, especially for its culture. 2.2.1 Level of Interest Level of interest of tourist can be determined as one of the factor that influencing people to choose the particular destination. According to the Rapaports (1975) theory about factor that influencing the customer behaviors which can motivate them to go to the destination. It elaborated through this following topic. 2.2.1.1 Sources about Bali From the in-depth interviews informants conducted, all the informants have ever heard about Bali before. Based on how informants get to know Bali, there are several sources. Most of the informants know Bali from word of mouth from informant’s family and friends. On the other hand, for Indonesian respondent, they know Bali since they were attend school. Beside that, the remaining publicity is from media, like television, books, magazines, brochures; as well as through internet, include travel website. For example informants mentioned that their relatives’ experiences and stories about Bali is one of the reasons that make the respondents go to Bali, below are the statements of informants: â€Å"†¦I will go there. Because my friend told me that the place is nice and the culture is very unique† (French informant/A.4) â€Å"†¦I heard it from my parents, because my parents had their honeymoon there, and they said it was really beautiful island† (Singaporean informant/A.10) 2.2.1.2 Attending Balinese Cultural Event Tourists; who never been and have been to Bali before; indicated that five informants have high interest in attending cultural events in Bali, otherwise there is three informants said that they might be interested in attending cultural events. And the remaining two informants do not have interest in attending cultural events. According to Morgan (1996), the respondent answers of ‘maybe’ could be a huge potential if these respondents can be converted to ‘interested’ respondents. In Morgan’s model for decision making, it categorized into 5 main steps, such as: Problem recognition (don’t know market) Information search (maybe market) Evaluation of alternatives Choice of purchase Evaluation of post-purchase experience As for the maybe market, marketers can use advertisements to create the need for attending the cultural events by sending mails or using media like distributing materials that have information on the cultural events to create their awareness. Findings from interviews by looking at their age group of traveler indicated that most of the traveler that interested in Balinese cultural events is older traveler, whereas four informants said that attending cultural events is one of their purposes of traveling to Bali and the remaining informantsaid not really interest to attend cultural events. One of the informants thought that people who attended the cultural events will have a better understanding about the Balinese tradition, which can see his/her statements below: â€Å"†¦as I told you before I want to learn more about their Balinese tradition through their cultural events† (Indonesian informant/B.6) Other respondents thought that differences of cultural events between their country of origin and Bali makes them interested to attend the cultural event in Bali. â€Å"†¦I’m quite interested with Balinese culture event, because their event is very different with our Japanese cultural events†. (Japanese informant/B.7) Meanwhile for younger traveler; only one respondent interested in Balinese cultural events. Another one informant said that he/she will not attend the cultural events in Bali because he/she does not have any interest in culture. The remaining three informants stated that attending cultural events in Bali is not a main purpose but they might decide to attend when they are in Bali. One of respondent of young traveler stated that she might attend the cultural event because she curious about it. â€Å"†¦but I’m just a bit curious for their cultural dances. So maybe I’ll attend there. (Singaporean informant/A.10) Based on the type of cultural events which respondents have the intention to attend, it indicated that six informants show high interest in their intention to attend a cultural festival rather than cultural dances. They mentioned their interest in cultural festival, such as Nyepi, Ngaben, Temple Festival, and Tooth Filling. Most of them interested to attend the Nyepi festival. For example, some informants describe Nyepi festival as seen below: â€Å"†¦ I heard that during Nyepi, everyone have to stay in their house and doing nothing, only pray to their god. My friend said that Bali is like a death island while Nyepi†. (Malaysian informant/B.3) â€Å"†¦ I heard that it only happens once a year. It is a day that whole of Bali Island remains silent.† (Malaysian informant/A.5) â€Å"†¦As a visitor in Bali, we have to stay at their hotel, because the community asked the visitor who stays in Bali should be obey with the rule of their tradition. No one will be hanging around and there is no activity during Nyepi.† (Indonesian informant/B.6) The other four informants refer to attend cultural dances rather than cultural festival. All of them interested to attend the famous â€Å"Kecak† dance. One of them describe Kecak dance as seen below: â€Å"†¦ the famous Monkey dance which as I know also known as Kecak dance.† (French informant/A.4) 2.2.1.3 Sources about Balinese Cultural Event In terms of the sources on how the informants know about cultural event in Bali, it indicated that most of the informants said that they ever heard about Balinese cultural event from school or college. They said that they have been learned it before. The statements regarding with sources as seen below: â€Å"†¦From school, I knew it from my geography teacher.† (Indonesian informant/A.8) â€Å"†¦I heard from my lecture.† (Malaysian informant/A.5) Beside that, the others also mentioned on how they know about cultural event in Bali such as the recommendations from friends, as well as a print publications like magazines, brochure, and travel books. As for the international tourists, internet and travel agents are the common sources on how they discover about the Balinese cultural events. Discussion: According to Picard (1996), Bali is one of the primary destinations in Indonesia, and well-known as an international destination, whereby most of the respondents said that they ever heard about Bali before. Even some of them do not really know about Balinese culture, but they still recognize Bali as one of the famous tourist attraction in the world. Regarding on how the informants know about Bali, it indicated that word of mouth from friends and family’s references is one of the source as well as influence them to travel to Bali. Based on the Rapaports (1975) and Morgan (1996) theory of social influences on customer behavior, reference group is the most influencing way on how they discover about the destination. Family and friends are called ‘primary reference group’ which is a group who influence the behavior to whom they come into close contact; by sharing their experiences about the destination. Most of them reveal that they want to go Bali because of good experiences from their relatives. Tourism is become the largest economy’s industry in Bali, especially its cultural tourism. A Balinese cultural event is one of major tourist activities as well as a tourist attraction. Therefore most of the informants; both tourists who never been and have been to Bali before; have a high interest in attending the cultural events in Bali. By looking at their age group categories, research findings indicated that older traveler is more interested to attend the cultural events rather than the younger traveler. Younger travelers might decide to attend, but attending the cultural event is not their purpose to go to Bali. On the other hand, older travelers reveal that attending cultural event is one of their main purposes to visit Bali. Firstly, there is a cultural arts-core for a tourist who has interest in culture and seen cultural event as primary element and attends the cultural event is a main purpose. Some of the older traveler categories into this level of interest in attend the cultural event. Secondly, cultural arts-incidental is for a tourist who seen a cultural event less important than other attraction but could be either attraction or an amenity, and attend the cultural event is their secondary purpose. Most of the older traveler is under this category, where they points out that attending cultural events is one of their purpose but not their main purpose. Cultural arts-accidental is for a tourist who view cultural events may not be an attraction but an amenity, but they might be interest in attending a cultural event. Most of the younger traveler is under this category. They might be interested in cultural event, but attending the cultural events is not their purpose. Lastly, Non-cultural art is for a tourist who not interested in culture, they also do not seen cultural events as an attraction or amenity, attending cultural events is not their purpose and they will not attend it. One respondent of younger traveler is under this category, where he/she revealed that he/she does not have interested in any cultural event. Based on the type of cultural events that the respondents have intention to attend, most of them intend in attending cultural festival rather than cultural dances, with Nyepi festival as their preferable festival that they want to attend. According to Ida Bagus Rata (2004), Nyepi festival has made Bali a unique island as well as a day to make and keep the balance of nature. He points out that Nyepi represents the suspension of all activity in the island preliminary to chasing out the evil vibration that has accumulated during the year. This is followed by a day of absolute silence, the suspension of all activity, from which the ceremony takes its name. Nyepi marks the New Year. On Nyepi, the tourists are not allowed to step aside of their hotel. All activity should remain inside the hotel. Even though most of the respondents have not attend this festivals before, but their knowledge about the description on how the Nyepi festival held is relatively in a correct way. Kecak dance is the most well-known dances in Bali (Seminar on Tourism,1977). Therefore most of the respondent who interested in cultural dance mentioned that Kecak dance is the cultural dance that they want to attend. But they can not describe on what the dance about. One of the respondent only can mentioned about Monkey dance which Kecak is also known as. The source of how the respondent knows about Balinese cultural dance mostly is from school and college. The others also mentioned about word of mouth from friends and family; mass media like newspaper, magazines, brochures; internet and also information from the travel agents. Therefore marketers need to take notes of the implication here. If the local or domestic market is targeted, they should create more awareness by using an attractive advertisement materials as well as articles. As for the international market, they should update and maintained the tourism board as well as travel website by spreading the information on cultural events which had happened as well as the future events. Distribution channels and networking are essential for international tourists due to their high dependence on tour operator and travel agents. It is important to create awareness for international tourist, so they can discover the unique points of the unusual cultural events in Bali. 2.2.2 Motivational Factor Beside the level of interest, those theories on tourists’ travel motivation that have been discussed in literature review part is can be helpful in this study to identify the Balinese cultural events as one of the motivational factor for tourist to travel to Bali. Therefore, these following topics have been elaborate to explore the tourist motivations travel to Bali. 2.2.2.1 Reason Tourist Traveling to Bali Based on the reason on why people want travel to Bali, most of the informants revealed that they prefer go to Bali because of the famous beaches there. For example, some of the informants thought that the beautiful beaches in Bali is one of the reasons why they want to travel there, below are the statements of respondents: â€Å"†¦and I also want to see their beach, because many people says that Bali have a beautiful beaches† (Indonesian informant/B.1) â€Å"†¦because Bali have beautiful beaches† (Korean informant/A.2) Beside the famous Bali beaches, the other informants also mentioned that the unique Balinese culture and attractive tourist attraction; friendliness of local people; and their interest in shopping, especially local art market, is also the reasons that affect them to go traveling to Bali. One of the respondents thought that shopping in Balinese local art market is cheap, which can see their statement below: â€Å"†¦because I want to see their famous cheap art market.† (Indonesian informant/B.1) 2.2.2.2 Purpose of Trip As for the tourist that been to Bali, most of the informants reveal that the purpose of their trip to Bali mostly is for holiday with family or friends. One of the informants stated that his/her purpose is for business trips like seminar, training and also research purposes. â€Å"I have a lot of purposes, because there are different purposes each of my trip, such as vacation, training, seminar, and business trip or doing some research there.† (Indonesian informant/B.6) 2.2.2.3 Other Factors that Motivate Tourist to Bali Besides culture, the factors those motivate informants to go to Bali is to experience their natural attraction like beaches or mountains. Most of them revealed that they want to experience the beach activities; like surfing; below are the statements of respondents: â€Å"Their beaches for surfing! I like surfing.† (French informant/A.4) â€Å"The beach, surfing and the people. I heard that is what Bali’s famous for.† (Malaysian informant/A.5) â€Å"Their natural attraction, especially beaches. I like the wave, it’s good for surfing!† (Singaporean informant/A.10) Findings from interviews by looking at their age group of traveler indicated that most of the younger traveler revealed that the factor that motivated them to go to Bali is to experience the beach activities; like surfing; because as they know Bali is one of the famous destinations for surfing. In terms of the other factors that motivate some of the informants, beside culture, is indicated to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Bali; friendliness of local people; shopping activities; for example one of informants thought his/her motivate factors is for relaxation to escape for the daily life routine activities, as seen below: â€Å"I’ll go there for relax and also to release my stress for daily routine, especially from my work.† (Malaysian informant/B.3) Discussion: The push and pull concept provides reasons as to why people travel. According to, Dann (1977), people are pushed into making travel decisions by internal forces. The other is that they are pulled into travel decisions by external forces such as destination attributes. In other words, push motivation is an internal factor from an individual and increases the desire for people to travel, whereas pull motivation is an external factor that influences people travel which cues of a specific destination that pull people to realize the needs of particular travel experiences, such as natural and historic attractions, food, people, recreation facilities, and marketed image of the destination. Therefore by looking at the reasons on why people traveling to Bali; it indicated that most of the informants will go to Bali to enjoy the natural attraction in Bali. Whereby according to Dann (1977), natural attraction in Bali; like their beaches; is one of the major pull factors that influence people to go traveling to Bali. The other reasons that some of the informants mentioned that influence them to go to Bali such as the uniqueness of Balinese culture; the friendliness of local people; and shopping activities. Here, all the reasons also can be categories into the pull factors. According to Crompton (1979), he points out that the pull motivations help illustrate the actual destination choice, which related to this findings on the reasons why people choose Bali as destination to travel. Regarding on the purpose of trip that tourists that been to Bali before, most of the informants said that their main purpose is for holiday or leisure time. One of the informants also stated the other purpose is for business purpose. Coltman (1930) explained the factors that create a person’s desire to travel; purpose of people to travel; which have been categories into two; such as motivation that related to the destination and not related (Coltman, 1930). Here, most of the informants though that holiday as their main purpose, which can be fall under motivation related to the destination, into the leisure time escape category; that makes tourist to escape from their daily activities, or merely to have a new experience. In contrary, for business purpose can be categories into the motivation not related to the destination. It means that it can give people no choice about going to that destination instead of some others. Tourists’ purposes can be determined as push factor. Push factor is an internal energy to an individual and increases the desire for people to travel. Crompton (1979) mentioned that the push factor have been useful in explaining the desire for travel. It includes the desire for escape, novelty seeking, adventure seeking, dream fulfillment, rest and relaxation, health and fitness, prestige, and socialization. According to the findings, most of the informants reveal that their push factor is to enjoy the holiday with family and friends, which can be categories into the desire for escape, as well as socialization. By looking at the other factors, beside culture, that motivate the informants to visit Bali, such as to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Bali; to relax with friends and family; the friendliness of local people; and shopping activities. According to Gahan and Martin (1993) and Mohr et al. (1993), the informants’ motivations for people visit Bali mostly for escape; inverse in routine daily life activities by enjoying the scenery. It followed by socialization and family togetherness (enjoying themselves being with family and friends); excitement (surfing) and event novelty (shopping). Attending cultural events is under the event novelty, where tourist is experiencing something new and different things because of the uniqueness. 2.2.3 Tourists perception Basically, tourist perception is related to motivation tourist, which can influence traveler’s decision making to travel to the particular destination. To prove that there is a connection between tourist perception and motivation factors, this study explored the various tourist perceptions towards Bali as a tourist destination, as well as their perceptions about Balinese cultural events. 2.2.3.1 Perception about Bali In terms of tourist’s perception about Bali, most of the informants frequently called Bali as a beautiful island, which famous and well-known as international destination. They also stated that Bali is a nice place for relaxation. Some of the informants also thought about Bali with their friendly local people and the wide variety of tourist activities; such as surfing; where some informants mentioned that Bali is famous as surfing destination in the world. Below are the informants’ statements: â€Å"In my opinion, Bali is the island that has been notified by international tourist as one of the beautiful Islands in the world. It is famous as one of the best surfing destination in the world.† (French informant/A.4) â€Å"To me, Bali is a surfing paradise,†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Malaysian informant/A.5) Beside that, some of the informants comments about Bali as an island that rich in culture and historical background, as seen below: â€Å"I heard that there’s also a lot of history and tales about the Island, which also famous with their uniqueness of culture.† (Malaysian informant/A.5) â€Å"I think Bali is very unique, especially their culture with a strong tradition; where everybody who stays in Bali should obey to their tradition† (Indonesian informant/ B.6) The uniqueness of Balinese art and handicraft; with cheaper price in the local art market; as some informants thought that Bali as shopping spree paradise. Below are their statements: â€Å"Bali has their own beautiful handicraft with their unique design.† (Indonesian informant/B.1) â€Å"I love it, like for shopping it’s very cheap there, especially their art traditional market.† (Indonesian informant/B.9) By looking at the age of informants, most of the older traveler indicates that their opinion about Bali as a nice place for relaxing from the daily life routine, as they thought Bali is a peaceful place. In contrary, for younger traveler, their perception about Bali is an exciting destination, with a lot of activities that they can experience there; doing something stimulating; especially their beach activities. Some of younger traveler thought that beaches in Bali are fantastic and a one of the famous destination for surfing activities. 2.2.3.2 Perception about Balinese Cultural Event In terms of the perceptions of tourists toward cultural event, most of the informants revealed that Balinese cultural event has a unique attraction which very attractive. Some of the informants stated that the cultural event in Bali is unique because different with any other culture; especially for foreign tourist, whereby they revealed that it different between Balinese culture and the culture in their country of origin; below are the statements of informants: â€Å"It’s very unique, and quite different with Malaysian culture, especially their festival, like Nyepi.† (Malaysian informant/B.3) â€Å"†¦as I know their culture is very interesting and a lot of traditional dance and festival that very different from my country.† (French informant/A.4) Some of the informants also mentioned other perceptions about Balinese cultural event have a strong connection with their belief or religion, as well as their tradition, which make their cultural events’ as a sacral and very spiritual (mystic). â€Å"Their cultural event is very religious and sacral. Whatever it is, dances or festivals, they always connected with their religion and beliefs.† (Indonesian informant/B.1) â€Å"I think it also a bit mystic.† (Indonesian informant/B.9) â€Å"I felt a bit freaky because it’s very mystic as well as magical.† (Singaporean informant/A.10) Other informants indicated on how the Balinese community performs’ the cultural events in Bali. Some of them thought that the cultural event, especially Balinese cultural dance, is very attractive, energetic and also powerful. â€Å"I think it’s very beautiful, and also the performance was very energetic and powerful!† (Indonesian informant/B.9) â€Å"I think it’s quite interesting and energetic†¦. and they dance with the powerful music.† (Singaporean informant/A.10) For the cultural festival, one informant commented on the way they celebrate it which is family-oriented. â€Å"In my opinion, it’s very family-oriented; it’s good, because even though they don’t have enough money, the Balinese community will be collecting money from their big family to hold their tradition as cultural event.† (Indonesian informant/B.6) Discussion: According to the findings, the tourists’ perceptions towards Bali as one of the most enchanting and well-known travel destination in the world, because of the physical beauty of the island and its natural attraction like their nice beaches. According to Picard (1996), therefore Bali is seen by tourists as the â€Å"Ultimate Island†. Other than the beauty of their natural attraction, some of the informants also revealed that Bali as an island with rich of culture and strong religious tradition. For that reason, Bali is also known as the â€Å"Island of God†, where Hinduism belief influences most of the cultural aspect in Balinese community (Picard, 1996). The tourists’ perception toward Bali is predominantly characterized by the reasons on why people traveling to Bali; and factors that motivates them. Based on Crompton (1979), it shows that there is a connection between the tourist perception about a destination and tourist motivations to travel to the destination. He points out that tourist perception on the particular destination can influence traveler’s decision making in choosing a destination. Therefore tourists’ perception about Bali also can be categorized as the Pull factors based on Dann’s theory (Dann,1977). Regarding the tourists’ perception toward the Balinese cultural events in general, the study indicates that most of informants thought that Balinese cultural event is attractive and very unique, which different with other culture. Other than the uniqueness of cultural event in Bali, some of the informants thought that Balinese cultural events have a strong connection with their religion and spiritual indeed. According to Picard (1996), the cultural and religious are interwoven in Bali. He also stated that tourism in Bali cannot be conceived apart from Balinese culture. In fact, tourism is become the largest economy’s industry in Bali, with cultural tourism is one of the major aspects that contributed to the industry. In terms of the perceptions’ towards characteristics of Balinese cultural events, most of the informants described the cultural dance in Bali is energetic and powerful; and for the cultural festival some of the informants thought that it is family-oriented. By looking at the tourists’ perceptions about cultural events shows the level of understanding and knowledge of the informants toward the Balinese cultural events. Even they do not have a clear perspective in terms of knowledge, but the study shows the good opinion toward Balinese cultural events. Based on the Gahan and Martin (1993), the tourist perceptions’ on a particular event can influence tourist behavior for attending the events. This study shows that good perceptions’ of tourist toward Balinese cultural event will influence them to attend the cultural events; where majority of the informants indicates their interest to attend the cultural event in Bali. 2.2.4 Tourist experience Motivation tourist is related to their intention of visiting the particular destination, which also influence by their perception toward the destination. Tourist experienced the destination to meets their expectation. This can be determined by knowing how their travel behavior during the trip, such as their satisfaction level, destination that they visited, as well as the frequency of visiting Bali. 2.2.4.1 Satisfaction of Trip From the qualitative study conducted to the informants that been to Bali before, all of the informant shows that they have a high satisfaction level while their trip to Bali. Most of the informants reveal that they enjoy the scenery and tourist attractions in Bali, especially the scenery of beaches. â€Å"Yes, because the scenery and the beach is very attractive. I really enjoy it.† (Indonesian informant/A.8) â€Å"I really enjoyed it with my friends and family, especially when I looked at the scenery during sunset! It’s really beautiful.† (Indonesian informant/B.9) Other than that, one of the informants thought that he/she satisfied with the trip because of the price is cheap, like for accommodation, as well as public transportation. â€Å"And my trip is very satisfied! Because it’s very cheap there, the air is fresh and no pollution! The accommodation is also cheap. I stayed near by the Nusa Dua beach. For the transportation, the taxi rate is so cheap.† (Japanese informant/B.7) 2.2.4.2 Destination Visited In terms of the destinations visited, the study indicated that Kuta area is the most popular destination for tourist. Beside that, some of the informants stated that Ubud, Nusa Dua, and Kintamani, as the other destinations that they visited during the trip. Denpasar is the main gateways in Bali; where known as the place of Ngurah Rai International airport of Bali; therefore most of the informants mentioned Denpasar as one of the place that they have been visited. 2.2.4.3 Experience for Attending Cultural Event By looking at the tourists’ experience for attending the cultural events, from five informants, four informants had been attend the cultural event in Bali, and only one informant that did not attend. Most of the informants; that had been attend it before; reveals that they watched the performance in Ubud and Kuta area. â€Å"I watched the dances during night in Ubud.† (Japanese informant/B.7) â€Å"I watched it near by my hotel in Kuta, and it’s very fantastic!† (Indonesian informant/B.9) The most cultural event that had been attended is Kecak dance, and followed by Pendet and Barong dance for the cultural dances. For the cultural festivals and ceremonies, some of the informants mentioned that they have been attending the Ngaben festivals. Whereby, one of the informants reveals that he/she had been attending both of the cultural dances and cultural festivals. â€Å"I have seen Ngaben ceremony and some of their cultural dances, like Kecak and Pendet. Kecak is very attractive dance; there is a meaning behind it. One of the interesting parts is their group cooperation.† (Indonesian informant/B.6) 2.2.4.4 Frequency of Visiting Bali Based on the frequency of visiting Bali, most of the informants stated that it is their first time going to Bali. Whereas one of the informants stated that he/she has gone to Bali for more than twice, at least 4 times a year. â€Å"Not really regularly, but I’ll go there at least 4 times a year.† (Indonesian informant/B.6) By looking at the intention for tourist that never been to Bali before, all the informants reveal that they have an intention for planning to visit Bali someday. Some of them stated that they will visit Bali when they already have enough money to go there. â€Å"I have to see my saving first.† (Korean informant/A.2) â€Å"Yes, when I have enough money, surely I’ll go there. (Indonesian informant/B.1) From the qualitative study, i