SKB Process for Tourism Actors in Bali Equipped with Monitoring and Evaluation

Since 2014, Bali Province has been a pioneer in implementing the Disaster Preparedness Certification or SKB to support safe tourism. Now, the SKB implementation continues to be accelerated and refined.

Starting in 2014, as an effort to accelerate SKB implementation, the SKB process will be equipped with monitoring and evaluation to ensure sustainability. The plan to implement monitoring and evaluation was conveyed along with the launch of the fifth edition, or the newest edition, of the SKB guideline.

In the new certification guideline, the number of indicators is adjusted from originally 51 to 31 indicators, making it more efficient. Indicators in the new certification guideline have also accommodated the principles of Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) and Climate Change Adaptation (API), thus complementing previously existing components, namely disaster knowledge, mitigation, preparedness and response capacity, and security.

Disaster Risk Management Area Coordinator of SIAP SIAGA Bali Program, Diyah Perwitosari, said that the issuance of Local Regulation No. 5 of 2020 concerning Standards for the Implementation of Bali Cultural Tourism is a strong legal umbrella for SKB. “One of the aspects regulated in the Local Regulation is the disaster management factor, which is included in Article 30 concerning disaster prevention and management,” said Diyah.

Diyah added that the disaster management content in the local regulation is then strengthened through its derivative regulation, namely the Bali Governor Regulation No. 52 of 2021 concerning the Implementing Regulation of the Local Regulation No. 5 of 2020. Articles 27 and 28 of this regulation specifically regulate disaster management. In particular, the SKB is also regulated in said Governor Regulation, namely in Article 32. Therefore, the basis for its implementation is more certain.

Although ultimately it is the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Bali Province that manages SKB implementation, this improved SKB process cannot be separated from a series of discussions and intensive meetings of parties related to tourism and disaster management in Bali Province, such as BPBD, Tourism Office, universities, and SIAP SIAGA Program. With their respective roles, all parties have supported SKB implementation for better tourism in Bali. In several disaster incidents, tourism is one of the sectors that got hit the hardest, and this has a direct impact on people’s lives and the local income, for example, during the 2017 eruption of Mount Agung and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because the tourism sector is vulnerable to disasters, SKB needs to be expanded, monitored, and evaluated since tourism is a priority for the government and the people of Bali. To date, as many as 99 out of a total of 498 business entities related to tourism in Bali have received the Disaster Preparedness Certification (SKB). The majority of SKB recipients are hotels in the Nusa Dua area. In addition to often hosting national and international events, Nusa Dua is also prone to tsunamis. The implementation of SKB that extends to other areas in Bali will add selling value because it makes tourists feel that they are in safe hands when a disaster occurs.

BPBD Bali Province, with the support of the SIAP SIAGA Program, is currently preparing a Strategy for Accelerating SKB together with multi-stakeholders, which includes:

1. Guideline for SKB Acceleration Strategy that mainstreams GEDSI and API
2. Quantitative and qualitative Human Resources improvements at District/City BPBDs, in which it is expected that there will be Assessors, Verifiers, and SKB Secretariats available at the District/City level
3. Strengthening partnerships with the establishment of the SKB Communication Forum
4. Availability of financing from the Provincial Budget, District/City Budget, and other parties
5. Technology-based system innovation (digitalisation)

For people who have received SKB, monitoring and evaluation can be carried out independently. Similar to SKB, the process is also free of charge. Another change in addition to the SKB guideline and monitoring and evaluation certification is the verifier team. If, in the previous year, the verifier team consisted of a team of verifiers and assessors, then in 2024, the composition will include a verifier team, an assessment team, and a secretariat.

SIAP SIAGA program fully supports safe and convenient tourism for the sustainability of tourism in Bali, which supports the welfare of the Balinese people.