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RUSSIAN TOURIST ETHICS IN BALI: LAW ENFORCEMENT ASPECTS TOWARD SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
GEDE GINAYA1,NI PUTU WIWIEK ARY SUSYARINI2, NI KETUT BAGIASTUTI3, I KETUT SUPARTA4, MADE
RUKI5
Tourism Department, Politeknik Negeri Bali12345 ginaya@pnb.ac.id1 putuwiwiekarysusyarini@pnb.ac.id2 ketutbagiastuti@pnb.ac.id3 ktutsuparta@pnb.ac.id4 ruki@pnb.ac.id5
Abstract - With millions of foreign tourists traveling the globe each year, tourism is regarded as the largest and most significant industry in the world. Mainstream operators with a large volume of inexpensive and affordable vacations dominate tour operations market. A specialty operator sector coexists with the mainstream market and offers niche products to remain competitive. This study aims to determine whether specialized tour operators of Russian market in Bali view green and sustainable tourism as a niche market potential. Green and sustainable tourism has gained popularity over the past ten years. It will delve into the idea of green and sustainable tourism, look at how the Russian tourist market specialist view consumer demand for green and sustainable vacations' products, and identify the crucial qualities for green and sustainable Bali tourism operators in terms of law enforcement as it is stipulated in Regional Law of No 2 of 2012 on Bali Cultural Tourism. Whether specialized tour operators of Russian market who promote green and sustainable tourism travel feel they may obtain a competitive advantage at a high cost will be determined.
Keywords: Russian Tourist, Green and Sustainable Tourism, Law Enforcement;
INTRODUCTION
The tourist sector is a broad, flourishing industry whose expansion is still going strong. More than 800 million individuals spent at least one night abroad in 2019. With international tourism anticipated to expand by 7.4% in 2019 and more than 1.5 billion passengers by 2030, the number of tourists is expected to nearly double in the next 20 years (Page, 2019). The millions of foreign tourists who travel throughout the world each year have an unavoidable impact on the destination countries of the world since tourism is the largest and most significant industry in the world. Over 29 million people travel abroad for annual vacations, making holiday business extremely competitive (Streimikiene et al, 2021; Gudkov, 2018; Kumar & Legashova, 2017).
Twelve major tour operators produce package vacations for the mass market in the oligopolistic market system that governs outbound tour operations (Sheresheva, 2018; Christian, 2016). Approximately 1,500 "micro-operators" or SMEs serve the remaining 10% of the outbound market, which represents overall abroad inclusive travel industry (Groulx et al, 2019; Goryushkina et al, 2019). Holloway & Humphreys (2022) claim that mainstream operators maintain their competitive position by selling a lot of cheap vacations and making little margins, usually between 2 and 3 percent. The independent sector is made up of manufacturers who sell a lesser amount of higher-priced holidays because these low margins are untenable for SMEs. The most significant aspect of marketing vacations for inbound tour worldwide is price, and pricing techniques are extremely important in both the package vacation and the specialty vacation industries (Sheresheva et al, 2020; Camilleri, 2018; Aguiar-Quintana, 2016). Through differentiation and augmentation, SMEs lessen the impact of such fierce pricing rivalry, and to compete successfully, they must offer specialist tourism products (Andrades & Dimanche 2019; Gudkov, 2018). As a niche product inside the mass market, green and sustainable tourism can enable businesses to compete on more than simply price, according to a tour operator, adding quality and value to the industry (Andrades & Dimanche 2017). Previous research on environmental tourism found that companies implementing environmentally friendly business strategies could benefit financially and boost their competitive advantage (Sheresheva et al, 2016).
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This study will investigate if green and sustainable tourism, which provides added value, can offer chances to a market striving to move away from price-based competing strategies.
The more openness of Russian citizens to travel abroad is a golden opportunity to boost foreign tourist visits to Indonesia, especially Bali. Therefore, tourism business actors under the coordination of the Ministry of Tourism are intensively promoting tourism to Russia. There are several factors causing the increase in visits by Russian tourists to Bali which are interrelated with one another, so that the increase in visits has reached its peak since the 2000s. First, close diplomatic relations between the Republic of Indonesia and the Russian Federation are followed up with a visa-free visit policy for Russian citizens to Indonesia. Second, the promotion of tourism through cooperation in the economic and trade sectors, which led to the opening of a direct flight Moscow-Denpasar by Rossiya Airlines on October 28 2018 (Kompas.com 2019). Prior to the issuance of the visa-free policy for Russian citizens in 2015 (Presidential Decree No 69/2015), Russian tourists visited Indonesia using a regular visit visa and in 2007 began using a visa on arrival (VOA).
The purpose of this study, which builds on the work of Mzembe, Lindgreen, Idemudia, & Melissen (2020), is to determine whether specialized SMEs view green and sustainable tourism as a niche market. The concept of green and sustainable tourism will be examined, along with consumer demand for green and sustainable tourism vacations and the necessary qualities for green and sustainable tourism businesspeople in this specialized industry. This research focuses on the competitive opportunities of green and sustainable tourism as perceived by specialized SMEs rather than overtly defining and discussing consumer behavior. The operators' perceptions of their customers' demand for green and sustainable tourism will also be examined.
1. LITERATURE REVIEW IMPACT OF TOURISM AND ITS LEGAL ASPECTS
It is crucial to look at the concept of green and sustainable tourism's roots and how it has developed into such a current concern before considering the prospects for operators that provide it as a niche product. Many people travel the world in quest of paradise as a result of tourism, which is a significant economic driver in global markets. As a result, the ecosystem has been put under a great deal of stress, and concerns have been expressed about the effects of mass tourism, which is long seen as unsustainable and insatiable in its growth and effects (Morozov and Morozova, 2018). Based on Law No. 10 of 2009 concerning tourism and Government Regulation No. 50 2011 concerning the Development Master Plan The 2010 - 2025 National Tourism uses the principle of sustainability in the concept sustainable tourism law, and sustainable tourism. Although the ongoing rise of the tourist sector has been welcomed by both suppliers and customers, there is a growing global trend to question the nature and rate of this growth. Tourism can surely boost the economy, but it can also make the host community's social and economic disadvantages worse, especially in developing countries (Zdravkovi and Pekovi, 2020; Cvijanovi and Pavlovi, 2018).
Inequality in connections and trade results from the influence that the main transnational firms (TNCs) have over the suppliers of the tourism product. Pressure organizations, the media, and customers are contesting the ideals of green and sustainable tourism trading, human rights concerns, and the social and environmental accountability of these firms as they continue to dominate international commerce (Gudarenko and Bagmet, 2015). Despite the tourism industry impacts, it does offer marketing opportunities for companies that want to provide alternatives to traditional tourism, such as green and sustainable tourism (0HCK0Ba and egKUH, 2020).
SETTING THE PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AT THE NATIONAL LEGAL LEVEL
The principles of sustainable tourism if traced from legal documents, it is found that the formulation of norms is in line with the principles sustainable tourism as defined by UNWTO and in line with Law No 17 of 2007 concerning Long Term National Development Plans for 2005-2025. In addition, understanding consumer demand is crucial for any service provider, and the travel industry is no different (Sofronov, 2019). Although socially responsible business practices are increasingly
encouraged, it is still unknown whether tourists are interested in eco-friendly and sustainable tourism businesses (Cimbaljevi et al., 2019). There is growing acceptance that most business decisions involve some sort of assessment of green and sustainable tourism (Gerstenfeld and Roberts, 2017). If a customer requests green and sustainable travel products, it is obvious that a customer-driven company must provide them (Jones and Comfort, 2020). Moreover, there is proof that customers are willing to pay more as a reward for a company's green and sustainable tourism practices (Gossling and Schweiggart, 2022; Palacios-Florencio et al., 2021).
Green and sustainable tourism products might offer a chance for differentiation when consumers perceive little difference between competing products or brands (Peng and Chen, 2019). Selling green and sustainable tourism values presents a chance for competitive advantage as significant numbers of green and sustainable tourism consumers begin to factor green and sustainable tourism considerations into their buying decisions (D'Souza et al, 2021). According to market research, customers are calling for higher levels of corporate accountability and green and sustainable tourism standards in business, with 73% of all consumers expressing urgent concern about matters of conscience when purchasing items (Ettinger et al, 2021). With more than one in four customers declaring themselves to be strongly green and sustainable tourism, a jump of 5% since 1990, The Russian Federation Government statistics show an increase in the number of consumers actively searching out green and sustainable tourism items (Мишулинa, 2020). A recent survey focused on the travel industry found that 27% of Russian tourists said that a company's green and sustainable tourism values were very important to them when deciding with which operator to travel. One could argue that businesses that meet such consumer demand will have a competitive advantage (Мишулина, 2021; Ilina et al, 2019).
Consumer research in the tourism sector unquestionably demonstrates that there are tourists who choose green and sustainable vacations for reasons other than philanthropy (Bondar et al, 2023; Khartishvili, 2019). Current psychological research emphasizes the problem of disconnect between a consumer's conscience and their actual purchase behavior (Teng, et al, 2018). For instance, tourists may choose green and sustainable tourism vacations because they believe they will be getting a higher-quality well, whether it includes traveling in fewer groups or going off the beaten route (Han et al, 2019). (Han et al, 2019). It would be false to claim that all clients who express interest in eco-friendly and sustainable tourist getaways are attracted merely by the extra moral value (Han and Hyun, 2018).
2. RESEARCH METHODS
In addition to the body of existing literature, this study focuses on the primary findings of an empirical investigation into how specialist tour operators view green and sustainable tourism and the extent to which they consider it as a source of competitive advantage. Two preliminary qualitative interviews were done with two different tour operators—Russian Holidays and UTE Megapolus—in order to gain insight and study the challenges associated with green and sustainable tourism for the tour operating industry. Finding out that green and sustainable tourism was applicable to tour operators and wasn't just an academic notion was crucial at this stage of the research. If so, did it serve the general market and niche markets equally?
The interviews made it clear that mass-market consumers were believed to not be interested in eco-friendly and sustainable travel. Because they believed that there was no consumer demand because "consumers continue to be price-led and any new product development tends to be operatorled," mainstream operators did not provide them. This viewpoint was supported by Tourism Concern, which claimed that only recently have a few notable operators (such as the UTE Megapolus Group) become aware of the sustainability and financial potential of green and sustainable tourism business approaches. There is more work to be done before mass market operators can offer a green and sustainable tourism vacation. Also, independent specialist tour operators (SMEs), such as those connected to Tourism Concern's Community or the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO).
Five independent, specialist tour companies serving the Russian market—Russian Holidays, UTE Megapolus, Big Tour, Southern Cross, and Lanta Tours—are included in this non-probability sample frame. These companies specialize in green and sustainable tourism, alternative travel, and/or eco-friendly vacations. In order to identify those that provided elements of green and sustainable tourism,
the researcher interviewed tour operators whose promotional materials claimed that tour group sizes were kept to a minimum and that they used locally owned businesses in the destinations for lodging, transportation, and other services.
In the literature, these norms were found to be significant predictors of moral tour operators, and the qualitative interview with Tourism Concern corroborated their validity. However these concerns would be distinctly addressed in the Tours and Travel Company.
The sample was developed with the goal of identifying tour companies that adhered to the norms set out by the literature on tourism ethics. Considering there may be other tour providers in the Russian Federation that provide green and sustainable tourism vacations but do not market this or are ignorant that they do so and do not belong to an association or directory of tour operators, this could be a cause of prejudice. The researcher selected the largest sample frame available, which comprised 5 operators, in order to collect data from those that they considered met green and sustainable tourism standards. After the piloting phase, the researcher conducted a postal survey over a four-week period, identifying named respondents among the five operators polled.
3. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
This section outlines the operators' knowledge of green and sustainable tourism for the Bali tourist market, the level they offer it, and what they see as the prospects for green and sustainable tourism's competitive advantage. Also, it will include how operators view their clients' interest in eco-friendly and sustainable travel and whether they think these clients will be willing to pay more for these services.
WHAT OPERATORS KNOW ABOUT GREEN AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN BALI
The Moscow-Denpasar direct flight succeeded in boosting Russian tourist visits to Bali in 2018. Based on BPS Bali Province data for 2019, the increase in Russian tourists in 2018 was 6.95 percent from 117,500 in 2017 to 125,700 people. This is inseparable from the efforts of various parties, including tour operators, travel agents, media and airlines, in promoting Indonesian tourist destinations, especially Bali to the Russian public. To further increase Russian tourist visits to Bali, stakeholders consist of several travel agents and hotels who go to Russia twice a year to hold exhibitions, namely in March for the Moscow International Travel and Tourism (MITT) and Intour Market events and December for Otdikh Leizure.
Table 1. Travel Agents with Russian market in Bali
No Handling Agent in Tour Operator in Foreign Tour Guides
Bali Russia Representative s Russian English
1. Pegasus Russian Holiday 12 28 5
2. Look Asia InTour 14 30 8
3. Navigotaria Lanta Tour 15 0 32
4. Bounty Eastern Tour 12 25 7
5. Visi Tour UTE Mega Polus 2 25 5
6. Maestro Indonesia Big Tour 3 30 8
7. Asia Collection Southern Cross 2 20 4
8. Wita Tour Interline 1 10 5
9. Bali Voyage Internasinale 2 15 4
All respondents said that a green operator would treat their personnel correctly and use straightforward, truthful, and unambiguous promotion when asked to list the elements they believed would be given by an operator that practices green and sustainable tourism (see Figure 1). In destinations, almost all agreed that a green operator would work with locally owned businesses, and more than 75% of respondents believed that group sizes would be maintained to a minimum.
Figure 1. Elements provided by an ethical operator
When questioned about how green and sustainable they believed their business was (see Figure 2), all operators favored direct advertising. The Regulation on Package Travel (Batubara et al, 2022) mandates that tour operators in the Republic of Indonesia (RI) appropriately represent vacations in brochures, which may help explain why all the companies insisted that their advertising was genuine. Five operators used locally owned businesses for support services, including housing and transportation, and all but one operator believed they treated their employees appropriately.
Figure 2. Level of green and sustainable tourism provided by an ethical operator
Significantly, fewer operators advocated for keeping group numbers to a minimum. Even though most respondents were pleased to report that they maintained group sizes to a minimum, some questioned using the word minimum. Some respondents believed this to be a group of five or six people, while others considered it a group of up to thirty people. What does "little" mean to you, one respondent asked. We can accommodate 24 people at most. Uncertainty about the meaning of 'minimum size' may explain why fewer operators supported this element.
Further comments from respondents appeared to point to a compromise between the desire to keep tour group sizes to a minimum and the realization that this had to be "balanced against profit margins." This could be a challenge for businesses that want to offer customers a green and sustainable holiday experience; for example, maintaining smaller group numbers may involve additional costs that make the consumer's holiday more expensive. Operators may see green and sustainable tourism credentials as a cost rather than an investment due to the intense rivalry within the Indonesian operations industry and each company's struggle for more revenue and a more significant proportion of the market.
Most respondents identified using locally owned businesses to offer lodging and transportation as a goal of green and sustainable tourism, and an equal number of operators succeeded. An operator who used locally owned businesses "so long as these met the criteria of the CHSE Directive on Health and Safety" and another operator who used "hotels/lodges that follow green and sustainable tourism/ecological principles and respect local communities" were mentioned in the positive comments.
According to the study, the independent tour operators who participated in the poll knew precisely what the researcher meant when describing sustainable and green tourism. Most operators accepted and agreed with the researcher's description and indicated their comprehension of the services a green and sustainable tourist operator would provide, even though not all of them could fully execute the four characteristics of green and sustainable tourism. For those RI businesses that wish to give tourists eco-friendly and sustainable items, the issue of satisfying their reasonable price expectations continues.
According to the study, the independent tour operators who participated in the survey understood precisely what the researcher meant when she described green and sustainable tourism. Even though not all operators could fully execute the four aspects of green and sustainable tourism, the majority acknowledged and agreed with the researcher's description and expressed their understanding of the services a green and sustainable tourist operator would offer. The challenge of meeting the reasonably priced expectations of the Republic of Indonesia tourists remains for those RI operators who want to provide green and sustainable products to tourists.
COMPETITIVE OPPORTUNITIES
Although more than a quarter of the tour operators were aware of the financial benefits of eco-friendly and sustainable travel, an equal proportion needed to be made aware, more investigation is necessary to determine whether the respondents need more knowledge about their company's overall competitive potential or their concern that green and sustainable tourism could be a viable niche product are the cause of this hesitancy.
These results are at odds with prior research on environmentally conscious businesses, which hypothesized that using environmentally friendly business practices would help a company succeed financially. They also contradict a study on the tourism industry and found that adopting ecologically friendly company practices would give a niche operator a competitive edge. In addition, one-fifth of the respondents disputed any benefit they received from marketing green and sustainable holiday products. More investigation is necessary to understand why many respondents disagreed that green and sustainable tourism gave them a competitive advantage. Still, many of the operators in this study are not in business for the financial benefits of offering green and sustainable vacations.
ARE CONSUMERS INTERESTED IN GREEN AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM?
More than three-quarters of surveyed tour operators said that their clients were either very interested or moderately interested in vacations that included at least one of the four green and sustainable tourism features identified by the researcher (see Figure 4). However, a tiny portion of this majority thought that while their clients were interested in eco-friendly and sustainable travel, they were only interested in one or two aspects, including accurate advertising or intimate group sizes. A few other tour operators thought that their clients were only interested in green and sustainable tourism because it included components that enhanced the enjoyment of their vacation, such as seeing less-visited or off-the-beaten-path locations.
This backs up a prior tourism study claiming consumers were drawn to eco-friendly and sustainably produced goods not because they thought they contributed moral value but because they were purchasing a higher-quality interest. One operator indicated that his consumers were interested in something other than green and sustainable tourist holiday items. He cited a qualitative quote to back his opinion: 'the European holidaymakers are not aware of any green and sustainable/environmental concern in tourism'. Although this operator offered all four aspects of green and sustainable tourism, he seemed to think that his consumers should have chosen his travel services because of the principles of green and sustainable tourism. Although previous studies suggest increasing consumer demand for green and sustainable standards in business, the operators surveyed in this research needed to be made aware of this trend in their customers.
Whilst not all clients are equally interested in all four aspects of green and sustainable tourism, most operators say their customers are interested in it. More study would need to be done to analyze in greater detail which features customers think a green and sustainable tourism operator should offer. Remembering that this survey is intended to gauge the level of interest among tour operators' clients in environmentally friendly and sustainable travel is vital. As a result, this poll cannot make a definitive statement on this; instead, it would be essential to ask consumers directly to provide a more accurate description of their interests.
WILL CONSUMERS PAY MORE FOR GREEN AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM?
The survey confirms that a company's commitment to eco-friendly and sustainable travel can affect customers' purchasing decisions, albeit more investigation is required into why consumers make those decisions. It would be incorrect to assume that the consumer's decision to purchase a green and sustainable tourism vacation also included their intention to pay a higher price; less than a quarter of the surveyed operators thought their clients would pay a higher fee for green and sustainable vacations. More than half of the respondents were still determining if their clients would be willing to pay extra.
This is counter to recent tourism studies that found consumers like products with a moral component and are willing to pay more. It does, however, confirm other studies that stated that even if consumers might sympathize with green and sustainable tourist issues, this does not mean they will pay more for goods advertised with some green and sustainable tourism components.
This study reveals the acknowledged gap between consumers' concerns about green and sustainable tourism and their purchasing behavior. Even though customers sympathize with some of the issues, they will only sometimes pay more for a green and sustainable tourism vacation. This essentially supports the idea that when it comes to purchasing an annual vacation, the altruistic aspect of the "green and sustainable tourism" consumer may wane. These findings imply that the specialty market, previously essentially price inelastic, is shifting towards more cost sensitive. There is concern about whether the sector will ever be able to break away from this price sensitivity.
LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR BALI GREEN AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT
Research on Russian tourists as an emerging market in the context of sustainable tourism development in Bali can be a reference for interdisciplinary scientific development efforts in the field of Cultural Studies. In the context of integrating the roles of language, tourism, environment (geo-culture), relations and social structures in society, especially those related to the dynamics of power relations and conflicts of interest of actors and agents in the tourism business sector. In addition, this research also specifically discusses Balinese culture imbued with Hinduism as the basis for the development of cultural tourism in Bali as it is stipulated in the Bali Province Regional Law of No 2 of 2012. As a research output, this research is of course filled with novelty. Novelty is an element of findings from a study. Research is said to be good if it finds elements of new findings, so that it has a contribution both to science and to the lives of the people who use it. Thus, the methodology and results of studies on the Russian tourist market in the realm of the tourism industry in Indonesia from the perspective of cultural studies are very interesting phenomena in this research. Because (1) the issue of Russian tourists is less popular than the problems of other tourists such as China, Australia and Europe in general; (2) Russia is a relatively new market that has escaped the attention of certain
parties. Therefore, this research is also an attempt by researchers to answer the research gap that has existed so far.
Starting from the development of sustainable tourism related to the management of the Russian tourist market in Bali, it has been dominated by foreign travel agencies (BPW). As a result, many local BPW owners together with tour guides who have been evicted by the existence of foreign BPWs owned by Russian citizens with foreign representatives from the Red Bear Country, returned to the village to develop tourism villages. The essence of developing a tourism village is empowering local communities, so that these communities are actively involved in developing tourism in their own villages, especially with the Russian tourist market as an emerging market. So far, the European market staying in tourist villages in Bali is dominated by French, German, Italian, Spanish and Polish tourists. Therefore, the recommendations of this research for tourism actors who handle the Russian market have been able to attract Russian tourists to spend their holidays for two or three days apart from staying at hotels in the Nusa Dua area. Where previously the Russian tourists only did village tours through tours sold by BPW with their foreign representatives. This tourism village marketing strategy has created equity in the corridor of sustainable tourism development.
In line with the Russian market and Bali tourism sustainable development, there is an incident that received a lot of blasphemy from netizens was the upload of a foreign digital nomad named Sergei Kosenko as uploaded on the Facebook account of a public figure, Ni Luh Djelantik. Sergei Kosenko and his girlfriend from Russia arrogantly performed the attraction of jumping into the sea on a motorbike at the Tanah Ampo port pier, Karangasem Regency.
Figure 3. Foreign representative named Sergei Kosenko doing attractions plunge into the sea using a
motorcycle.
Source: Photo by Djelantik, 2020
The actions taken by Kosenko and his girlfriend are feared to damage the natural environment. This ridiculous act of two foreign nationals is of course very detrimental, because the motorcycle that plunged into the sea is sure to have its oil and gasoline polluting the sea. Not only that, it could be that due to the silly actions of these two foreign tourists, they could kill living creatures in the sea, such as fish due to oil and gasoline poisoning from the motorbike they plunged into. In fact, to save Bali Island from the negative impact of tourism is not only determined by the Regional Law of No 2 of 2012 on Cultural Tourism alone, yet there are also progressive efforts in the field of law. For example, the formal law regulating foreign representatives who work in Bali should be in accordance to Law No. 13 of 2013 on Labor. It cannot be tolerated behavior that violates the law, behavior that insults local people, behavior that damages local culture, behavior that does not respect local norms and values is unacceptable. Consequently, it is very important to carry out operations on immigration violations in Bali and in several places where it is suspected that there are foreigners who disturb order, disturb the peace, and disrupt the community's economy.
The development of tourism is not only related to the number of visits and convenience at destinations, but is also heavily influenced by the socio-political situation in the host country. This is clearly seen in the management of the Russian tourist market. The ripples of protest that had arisen over the existence of illegal guides from Russia were as much as possible muted with the aim of rationality for the continued increase in visits by Russian tourists to Bali. The local government through
the Bali Tourism Office, immigration officials, and the HPI Bali DPD sat together to find the best solution to the problem of illegal tour guides that operate a lot in Bali.
Figure 4.
A meeting held at the Tourism Office to address the troubling illegal Russian guides
Photo source: DPD HPI Bali
I Wayan Suweca, chairman of the DPD HPI Bali Russia Guide Division, explained the anticipation made by related parties towards an increase in Russian tourist arrivals in the following interview excerpt.
"The flow of visits by Russian tourists who are starting to increase should be balanced with the provision of good services for them. Among them is preparing tour guides who specifically master the Russian language well. A good mastery of the Russian language is needed by prospective tour guides with the hope that in the future they will become the spearhead of tourism and the nation's ambassadors will be able to explain Bali's tourist destinations correctly. (Interview, 6 February 2020)
Suweca, who in 2019 had the opportunity to take a three-month short course at one of the State Tourism Institutes in Moscow, was trusted by DPD HPI Bali who represented the Russian guide division to conduct interviews and Russian language guidance in the Russian language proficiency test for the recruitment of prospective guides specializing in Russian language at the HPI Bali DPD Office, Denpasar on 25 February 2020.
Figure 5. Recruitment of prospective guides specializing in the Russian language Source: Suweca photo collection
Tour guides as a subordinated group become aware after a long time of hegemony in the work system that applies to travel agent companies owned by Russian Businessmen in Bali. This awareness also arises as a result of the reality that there are an increasing number of foreign representatives working to handle Russian tourists, as seen at airports, hotels and tourist attractions. This situation led
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to consolidation among Russian-speaking tour guides in Bali. These tour guides come from various travel agency commissariats that handle Russian tourists. They often discuss their respective experiences in handling Russian tourists every time they carry out activities, whether transfer-in, meeting service, tours, or transfer-out. The increasingly rampant presence and movements of foreign representatives have become a hot topic at every meeting between the tour guides.
The initiative of the tour guide group to take this action is the response of the subordinate group to the hegemony that has taken place in tour and travel agency companies where foreign representatives are the incorporation parties. Awareness of tour guides to carry out counter hegemony against foreign representation also received support from Indonesian-Russian expatriate. They previously worked at a local travel agency (BPW) with the Russian tourist market, such as Visi Tur, Maestro Indonesia, and Nustra Tours & Travel. After the travel agency was eliminated due to the domination of Russian foreign BPWs, the former BPW employees who were of mixed Indonesian-Russian blood established a new BPW. Among them is Buriando, a former staff of Visi Tur are affiliated with Wita Tur, Daniel previously worked at Maestro Indonesia to establish New Horizon Tours, Yuda Permana previously worked at Nustra Tours to establish Hello Bali Tours. According to Buriando (interview, 12 May 2019) he has Russian blood from his Russian mother, whom his father married during a student exchange in Moscow in the 1950s during the Soviet Union era. As is well known, during the Old Order, relations between Indonesia and Russia were very harmonious. The cooperation between the two countries takes place in various fields where the fields of military, education, culture are the most prominent fields in terms of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
In addition to cultural capital in mastering the Russian language, social relations that were built from experience participating in tourism promotion events in Russia as sellers to get buyers from Russian tour operators are social capital for these Indonesian-Russian businessmen to get Russian tourists. Even though the big buyers (whole sellers) are controlled by the Russian Businessmen in Bali, they can still get small buyers (retailers). Operations from BPW Wita Tur, New Horizon, and Helo Bali can accommodate tour guides who previously worked at the evicted local BPW. The existence of a travel business for mixed Indonesian-Russian businessmen can be seen as the nationalism of these businessmen who refuse offers to work at foreign BPWs from Russia and prefer to be affiliated with marginalized local tour guides. Therefore, these mulatto business people are a group that is between the two dominant groups (foreign representatives) and dominated (local tour guides).
CONCLUSION
This study analyzed the idea of green and sustainable tourism, looked at consumer demand for it, and identified the crucial characteristics of tour operators operating in the Russian market that practice green and sustainable tourism. The independent tour operators who participated in the study understood precisely what the researcher meant by "green and sustainable tourism" and knew the significance of each of the four components for a company offering green and sustainable vacations. The majority of tour operators made an effort to provide all green and sustainable tourism components. Still, some had to make concessions, mainly to keep costs down and adhere to Indonesian legislation for health and safety.
Most of the operators polled believed that their consumers were drawn to eco-friendly and sustainable travel options. However, their motivations for doing so were murky. The operators also wondered if customers would be willing to pay a premium for eco-friendly and sustainable travel services. Specialized tour operators must continue to market their vacations as niche goods to maintain a competitive advantage over mainstream operators. Yet, it is still being determined if environmentally friendly and sustainable travel can present a competitive advantage.
Although more than a quarter of the operators surveyed acknowledged the commercial opportunities of green and sustainable tourism, an equal number needed to be more specific, making the study's overall conclusion about whether specialist operators regard green and sustainable tourism as a niche opportunity inconclusive.
While this study focused on a few specialized tour operators and their expertise in green and sustainable tourism, it could have gone into better detail about how tourists perceive these types of
travel. It is necessary to conduct further research to understand why tourists choose to buy (or not accept) green and sustainable vacation products and how their intentions and actions may differ.
Lastly, while it is acknowledged that the issues discussed in this article are complicated and will remain so, it is anticipated that it will be seen as an essential step toward understanding green and sustainable tourism and the potential provided to businesses that offer such services. Additionally, law and order in a destination like Bali should be firmly enforced in order to prevent illegal activities conducted by the foreign tourists rather than over reacted when the illegal activities happened. There should be considered the five moral approaches in solving the problems of law faced by the foreign tourists, such as utilitarian, virtue, common good, fairness and justice, and rights approaches in order to find good solutions of such a complex problem.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to express our thankful to stakeholders who were so helpful that this manuscript is to be able promptly completed. Additionally, allow us to give lots of thanks also to the Bali Tourism Authority for providing the secondary data of the Russian tourists' visit to the Island of God.
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