Poll week 6 dis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Poll week 6 dis - Essay Example Key among the causes of global financial crisis was the credit crunch in which US investors lost confidence in the value of sub-prime mortgages that in turn led to a liquidity crisis. The step by the US Federal Bank to inject large sum of capital into financial markets also contributed to this global crisis (â€Å"Crash course,† 2013). The crisis widened by September 2008, when the stock markets across the globe crashed, by that, becoming highly volatile. The event of September 14, 2008, when the Lehman Brothers collapsed, profoundly contributed to global financial crisis. The decision by Federal Reserve Chairpersons to dismiss the build-up of the housing bubble until 2007 from 202, contributed to this crisis. They never took the initiate to control the housing bubble or regulate mortgage companies. The Wall Street Executives’ decision to ignore policies focusing on internal risk management and their aim to increase revenues in a short time led to the crisis. In addition, the decision by US Presidents to hire former Wall Street lobbyists to serve as government policy makers, led to bailing out of banks without any regard to moral hazard. The decision risked the future of the national economy and shifted the burden to taxpayers. Timeline: Key events in financial crisis. (2013, September 9). Retrieved February 12, 2015, from

Louisa May Alcott-Term Paper Essay Example for Free

Louisa May Alcott-Term Paper Essay Many authors use experiences from their life as a guide to their writing. It’s a way to express their feelings and emotions, and it’s something in which they can be passionate. Writers and authors think on a different level than anyone else. They are constantly thinking of different ideas for novels, poems or stories. The best writing comes from those who use their own lives as a basis for their writing. They know what to write about and how to describe it perfectly. The best thing about writing from experience, I think, is that, since it’s still a fictional story, you can have an idea about what you want to write about, but you’re still able to add the interesting and fun details you want to. I believe that Louisa May Alcott has written from her own life experiences. In Eight Cousins, Rose Campbell’s father passed away and she went to live with two of her aunts and her uncle, closely surrounded by her seven male cousins, as well as their mothers. She was a sickly girl and the only cure her uncle could think of was to get active, whether it was considered ladylike or not. When the two first met, he immediately got her to be outside more and to spend a little less time thinking about her health. Alcott was perceived as a tomboy and would often play outside, climbing trees or running around. She had a boy neighbor, about her age, with whom she would often play. The two were almost inseparable for a while, and he was described by Alcott as the brother she always wanted. Continuing in Eight Cousins, Rose befriended the maid of the household, Phebe, and eventually adopted her as her own sister. Rose believed in a good education, as did Alcott, and would teach Phebe all sorts of different school subjects on her own time. Rose was well educated in Latin and loved to read. She very much enjoyed school, and was extremely smart, though most of the young women in her time weren’t educated. Both Rose and Phebe looked forward to the times when they would get to study together. Phebe was never educated before, though she wished to be, and really appreciated Rose for teaching her. â€Å"For women such as Alcott, the world in which they live included women who needed to move beyond the traditional domestic ideal.†(â€Å"Unsexed†) Rose was part of the family living in a house with a maid. She was expected to clean up after herself, as was everyone else, but she went beyond that, offering to cook or clean, even when the help wasn’t asked of her. She made sure she was educated and healthy, yet still humble at the same time. Rose always wanted to help. In Eight Cousins, it was prominently noted that once Rose went to live with her aunts, uncles, and cousins, there was a major improvement in her. â€Å"In an era when women had few options for earning money, Alcott determined to overcome her family’s poverty through her prolific writing.† (â€Å"Louisa† 3) Alcott’s family struggled when it came to money, but after moving several times, things got a little easier, especially when Alcott herself started making money on h er works. â€Å"In the later juvenile novel Rose in Bloom, the theme of women’s rights is interwoven throughout the lives of its characters.†(â€Å"Louisa† 3) Alcott never married, and part of the reason was that she didn’t want to give up her independence. This was an era where women weren’t given as much respect as men, and hardly had any freedom for themselves. Alcott was very much a pro-women’s rights advocate. She did everything she could to try and get a say in society. She joined clubs and groups, and protested against the treatment women were given. â€Å"Alcott was always a strong advocate for social reforms including abolition, prison reform, and temperance, but her primary efforts were directed towards the cause of women’s suffrage.† (â€Å"Louisa† 3) In Rose in Bloom, Rose returned from a two year voyage overseas and decided that she was going to leave her mark in this world. She was a wealthy girl, so she used a lot of her money to open up homes for women and children in need. Rose too believed that women deserved an equal say in this world. â€Å"Her juvenile stories emphasize self-sacrifice and devotion to duty.†(â€Å"Louisa† 2) â€Å"Such novels have remained extremely popular for over a century† (â€Å"Louisa† 1) Alcott was a classic writer and she used her writing as a way to speak up for herself. Both Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom can be considered almost auto-biographical, but her main story that related to her own life was Little Women, for which Alcott is most famous. Little Women was about four girls who went through their life experiencing different events along the way. When Alcott was writing, she received a request from her publisher to write a novel about a typical American girl. She was skeptical at first, but then agreed. Alcott used herself, as well as her three sisters, as her inspiration for the four main characters. â€Å"The heroine of Little Women, for example, is a rebellious young woman who strives for independence and personal achievement as a writer, but ultimately modifies her dreams when she gets married- a fact that has caused this novel to be regarded as antifeminist by some critics.†(â€Å"Louisa† 1) Although not all of the things that happened in the book happened to her, many of the events did occur in her own life. â€Å"A prominent theme in much of Alcott’s fiction is the conflict experienced by women who must choose between individuality and the bonds of family responsibilities and social traditions.†(â€Å"Louisa† 1) Alcott went beyond what was expected of her and chose to be an individual. She didn’t appreciate how women were treated, so she stood up for herself and used her books and writings to tell about it. â€Å"Her subversive sensational stories not only defied 19th-century values of womanhood, but also rebelled against the teachings of her father, Bronson Alcott, who believed in traditional ‘femininity’ and sentimentalism, in a search for human perfectionism.†(â€Å"Louisa† 2) Alcott truly used her life and feelings as her basis for writing, which is evident in her books. I believe that is why she turned out to be such a great writer. She wrote from her heart and wasn’t afraid to let people know who she really was. WORKS CITED Alexander, Lynn. Unsexed by labor: middle-class women and the need to work. bNet. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2011. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7008/is_4_22/ai_n32064431/pg_11/?tag. Ditchfield, Christin. Louisa May Alcott: Author of Little Women. Scholastic Inc., 2005. Print.

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

Ecotage :: Environmental Activism Essays

Ecotage In recent decades, as environmental loss has grown as fast as our population, hundreds of plans, programs, groups and organizations have been established in order to uncover and solve the causes of world-wide environmental destruction. Many of these programs are initiated and funded by federal, state and local government and are mainly targeted at general problems and result in minimal success. Other groups have been formed by private parties who usually hold more compassion and concern for the causes they are working for. However, these organizations are easily hindered by political resistance and result in equally discouraging results. Of course, there have been many instances in which environmental groups have attained victory through political debates and litigation; yet the amount of failed attempts far outweighs the victories. Political debating is incredibly difficult due to the power and financial support given to politicians by special interest groups. However, there is one other form of activism which has had an incredible success rate, at least in gaining attention and forcing their voices to be heard. This form of activism, commonly referred to as ecotage, focuses precisely on the activities of companies and industries which seriously damage the environment. These actions are never aimed at harming individuals, while private property is for the destroying. One common act of ecotage is the driving of long metal spikes vertically through the base of trees. Subsequently, as the logger attempts to saw the 'spiked' tree, the chain on the saw snaps, thus delaying the murder of the tree as well as causing a financial burden for the individual or company. Other activities involve ruining bulldozers by adding sand or similar abrasives to the gasoline, which results in seized bulldozer engines. In times of increased urgency for the protection of our remaining ecosystems, organizations such as Greenpeace and Earth First! have proven their ability to be effective and have their voices heard regarding the permanent preservation of our dwindling environment. While Greenpeace has been the traditional radical environmentalist group of the 70's and 80's, modern, revolutionary type activists feel the 'peace' is now a higher priority than the 'green'. Earth First!, started by Dave Forman, has become the front-runner in civil disobedience and direct, non-violent environmental activism. Their principles are simple, "It is a belief in biocentrism, or Deep Ecology, and a practice of putting our beliefs into action" (Unclaimed, 1997 [see references]). Earth First! feels no regard for the well-being of anyone or thing except the environment and its natural inhabitants, thus the name Earth First!.

“What Do the Frankfurt School Contribute to Our Understanding of Popular Culture?”

The independent institute Frankfurt School was founded by Jewish intellectuals, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer and Herbert Macuse within a Nazi empowered Germany in 1923. After relocating to various parts of America, gaining exposure from Los Angeles and Hollywood lifestyle, the school returned. They took a great concern in the analysis of popular culture and the Culture Industry that had affected Germany in the 1940s. Although these changes reshaped a nation over 70 years ago, Frankfurt School’s interpretation of popular culture still relates to our own understanding today. The question is why, Adorno in particular, criticised this new behaviour in Germany’s society. The Enlightenment was introduced, which expressed individualism instead of tradition but ultimately led the way to modern capitalism and the culture industry. â€Å"Frankfurt School perspective is an obvious variant of Marxism. † (Strinati, 2004) Despite disagreeing with the Enlightenment, Adorno and Frankfurt School agreed on the Marxist theory. According to Dominic Strinati, to understand Frankfurt’s views â€Å"the school can be seen as trying to fill in a part of the picture of capitalism Marx did not deal with. (2004, 48) This provides a reappraisal of popular culture which Marx did not comment on, which we will acknowledge and see how far that it is understood by society today. Interestingly, the school focuses on the culture, not the economy or political aspects of society. However Adorno has also been criticised for his unclear and inaccurate analysis of the to pic, which will also be discussed and questioned upon. To begin, we will establish how Capitalism is the foundations of the development of popular culture. Capitalism is the political and economic system which is controlled by the individual, and not by state. Frankfurt School considered Capitalism as their opposition due to their left-wing beliefs. Though it is noticeable that the Frankfurt School believed Capitalism was more stable than what it really is. Adorno fails to mention that capitalism also has it’s faults and popular culture was not formed on this system alone. Despite this, it certainly aided it effectively. Adorno declares that the working class accept this system unforced is because businesses, advertisers and other consumers make the product that is being retailed more appealing. It doesn’t take much effort from the consumer to submit to these influences and purchase the product. This makes them feel better about themselves because they now own said product and are part of the majority that does. He introduces the term â€Å"commodity fetishism† which â€Å"is the basis†¦ of how cultural forms such as popular music can secure the continuing economic, political and ideological domination of capitalism. † (Strinati, 2004) He shows us that consumers in the capitalist society value money more than appreciating what was purchased. This â€Å"defines and dominates social relations† (Strinati, 2004, 50) The same is true today – many of us would much prefer to spend a colossal amount of money on an well-known brand commodity, say a new car or handbag, than an affordable and sensible priced one. This presents ourselves to others as a much wealthier individual, which essentially makes us feel better about ourselves. Adorno quotes this well â€Å"the real secret of success†¦ is the mere reflection of what one pays in the market for the product. (Strinati, 2004, 49) This superficial attitude expressed most of us can relate to today because we all live in a capitalist society and have experienced this need for a certain commodity. Therefore Frankfurt School has successfully helped us be aware of the root of popular culture. According to the Frankfurt school, â€Å"the culture industry reflects the consolidation of commodity fetishism. † (Strinati, 2004, 54) When the public are satisfied, cap italism will continue to work and therefore other political systems will be unsuccessful. It’s only when a system does not work does the mass culture look for new power. With the simplicity and effectiveness of the Culture Industry, the Working Class will remain content consuming. â€Å"It is so effective in doing this that the working class is no longer likely to pose a threat to the stability and continuity of capitalism. † (Strinati, 2004, 55) The industry successfully moulds and alters the tastes of the masses to suit the industry’s needs. However, the Frankfurt School do not consider that the notion of popular culture has any radical potential at this time. Instead, Adorno found that popular culture was ‘imposed’ on the people, and warned that they should only welcome it insofar as they do not get imposed. (Strinati, 2004, 55) Of course, this working class at the time was not going to take notice of the school’s negative response when they find something so welcoming and appealing. Perhaps Frankfurt did not appreciate how diverse and hybrid popular culture was. One way of looking at this would be to see Adorno’s criticism as a warning to us about the effects of the powerful culture industry, something the masses of 1940s would not understand. We are able to understand and relate to this because we all know from experience of this captivating affect that popular culture has on our lives. The school’s theory discusses that by capitalism and the culture industry working together produces ‘false needs’ for the masses, which means â€Å"people can be reconciled to capitalism, guaranteeing its stability and continuity. † (Strinati, 2004, 52) In the pursuit of profit, the industry will be ruthless to promote consumerism – to make consumers buy things they essentially do not need. These goods are advertised so effectively to the mass culture, they are tricked to believe that they genuinely need it. Think of the example from earlier with the expensive car or handbag. These false needs are created and sustained through advertisements in magazines, television, the media and from other consumers’ opinions. Therefore the consumer purchases the item: increasing the success of the industry and fulfilling the false need. The customer buys what they think they need, however remain unsatisfied and wants more. Strinati puts it very well: The customer is not king, as the culture industry would have us to believe, but its object. † This is a disturbing truth that needs to be dealt with, but it appears that nobody is bothered by it, so why should it be changed? The school successfully makes it clear to us how this lifestyle is influencing us so powerfully. We are aware of this feeling of ‘false needs‘ from time to time, yet we share the same attitud e as the society in the 20th century and continue in bad habit. In particular, the school criticises the culture industry’s popular music, accusing it of two processes: standardisation and pseudo-individualisation. The customer is being fooled through the use of standardisation â€Å"popular songs are becoming more alike† (Strinati, 2004, 58) Traditional music at such as Beethoven or Mozart requires an attentive listen and expression of the imagination to hear every detail that has been put into the musical piece. Meanwhile, popular music, as described by Storey: â€Å"operates in a kind of blurred dialectic: to consume it demands inattention and distraction† (2009) which means that it requires little attention – which suits perfectly for customers with busy lives, who after a stressful day prefer to listen to something which requires less concentration. Popular music is ideal here and â€Å"satisfies the craving. † The pseudo-individualisation element of the song disguises it making it appear more unique and distinctive, often by adding a catchy chorus or beat. Frankfurt School makes us aware of this process, which still is regular in many pop songs today. Adorno compares the characteristics of both music styles and criticises the simplicity of the one dimension popular music. Here it is felt that he must be condemned for criticising with a lack of evidence or experience to prove his theory. This makes it extremely difficult for us to relate to the school because they fail to relate with us. On the other hand, it could be argued that he was writing in 1941, a time were popular music would be very different to listen to. The music industry has changed drastically in the past 70 years and the sound of ‘pop’ has been reshaped too. It has to be acknowledged that despite Adorno’s criticisms of the culture industry’s popular music, it indisputably proves to us that if we reflect on the music we listen to today we will see evidence of standardisation and pseudo-individualisation used. To conclude, it must be asked why the mass culture both then and now continues to gives into the power of capitalism and the culture industry. Adorno’s idea is â€Å"that most capitalist societies live limited, impoverished and unhappy lives† (Strinati, 2004, 61) and the reason for this is the submission from the power of commodity fetishism, escape from the real world and tragically, laziness. Strinati presses that â€Å"popular culture does not necessarily hide reality from people† but that it’s realised how difficult it is to change the world from this mindset so it becomes a matter of acceptance. It is surely â€Å"killing the desire that might let us imagine a better world. † (Storey, 2009) The Frankfurt brings to us an interesting outlook of how we could change our lives and prevent the power of capitalism and the culture industry from absolute control. Bibliography Strinati, Dominic (2004) An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture London: Routedge Storey, John (2009) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction Harlow, England

Current Third Parties essays

Current Third Parties essays All throughout the American history of politics there have been two major parties, the Republicans and the Democrats. While most people can find a candidate from these groups who have the beliefs and ideals they look for in a candidate, there are always some people who want someone else to represent them in the presidential race. When enough interest is found, a third party is formed. These third parties have been a big part of American political history. Originally called the Association of State Green Parties, the Green Party was formed after the 1996 elections to fill a space in national Green politics. The American Green Party's platform is based on the following ten major ideals including ecological wisdom, community-based economics, grassroots democracy, decentralization, gender equality, personal and social responsibility, respect for diversity, nonviolence, global responsibility, and future focus. Greens are renewing democracy without the support of business donors. Initially, the partys goal was to help existing state parties grow and to promote the development of parties in all 50 states. The primary goal is still helping state parties, but also, they try to devote attention to establishing a national conservational presence in politics and policy debate while continuing to facilitate party growth and action at the state and local level. American Taxpayer Party presidential representative Howard Phillips was seen on the ballot in twenty-one states in 1992. Mr. Phillips again ran in 1996, this time appearing on ballots in thirty-nine states. At its national convention in 1999, the party officially changed its name to the Constitution Party and again chose Howard Phillips as its presidential candidate for 2000. The Constitution Party favors a government based a strict interpretation of the Constitution and the principals expressed in it by the Founding Fathers. They support a government limited in capaci...