A Tropical Monopoly

Close to Singapore and a welcome refuge from the bustle of city life, Bintan provides a popular weekend getaway for Singapore and Malaysian residents who can afford resort-style pricing. The Indonesian tropical island is both easy to get to (just a 55-minute ferry ride southwest of Singapore) and desirable by more affluent standards. Though our day-long jaunt did not involve a resort stay, the influence of the resorts on this tropical community (both good and bad) was blatantly apparent.

When first booking our ferry tickets, I noticed only 1 ferry company serviced the island’s northern terminal. At first I thought it was a mistake; after all, when visiting its sister island of Batam just 35-minutes away, I had my choice of about 5 different ferry services. But after fruitlessly searching for other options, I finally booked the lone option: Bintan Resort ferry services. As suspected, this is the only ferry service offered…interesting.

Upon arrival and before even clearing security, the familiar “Bintan Resort” logo greeted us again this time not as ferry services but as a tour company. We approached the counter, were greeted promptly, and before we knew it had purchased a mangrove tour. Feeling a bit of buyer’s remorse for not shopping around, I scoured the terminal for other tour companies to see exactly how much Bintan Resort had ripped us off. But to both my satisfaction and dismay, there were no other tour companies…very interesting.

Soon we were transported to the Bintan Resort main office to pay for and join our mangrove tour. The office fronted a quaint handicraft village that also housed what seemed to be “local” restaurants and massage parlors. Taking a quick look around before our mangrove tour started, I noticed something odd. All the shops and restaurants were fully staffed despite an obvious paucity of tourists; the shop owners all wore the same uniform; and though attentive they were not eager to sell. Hmmmm….quite a contrast from the city vendors we encountered later that day that wheeled and dealed looking to make a sale.

From ferry terminal to local transportation to tours, shopping, and eating it seemed as though Bintan Resort had a hand in it all. Whether it’s good for the local economy (providing jobs and free housing to employees) or debilitating to local community growth (the “real” local shops and industry don’t stand a chance against the Bintan Resort conglomerate), it is obvious this tropical monopoly influences the livelihood of those who call Bintan home.