Cloud Tour Services in Paradise: A Newly Marketing Paradigm in Bali Tourism History

This study examines the rise of cloud tour services (CTS) in Bali to understand their marketing concept and recognize their significant contributions toward Bali tourism recovery and to elicit how tourists gain holiday values using CTS while holidaying in Bali amid the pandemic. It applies qualitative methods, especially the phenomenology approach, to discover the phenomena to provide comprehensive insights and understanding of the rise of CTS in Bali. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with CTS organizers and tourists purchasing CTS and observations of online wall posts displayed by the CTS providers. The data collected were analyzed thematically according to the pattern as drawn up in the research objectives and triangulated by comparing and contrasting the existing theories and the data collection. The research finding showed that CTS raised immediate reactions of local people to struggle against the tragic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic during the recovery phase of Bali tourism, where the tourism entrepreneurship acquisition began, eased tourists reserving their tour itineraries, and allowed tourists to experience the uniqueness of Balinese cultures and the natural beauty of the paradise to gain natural and cultural ecosystem values.