Photo: brisbanetimes.com.au / AFP

Bagus Surya, a practitioner of direct promotion in Bali, admitted that Bali was magnetic, easily drawing many people to any promotional event.

“Almost every province in Indonesia conducts promotional activities here in Bali to introduce their potential, but as yet unknown, destinations,” said Surya.

He said his organization had held a number of promotional events for provinces in Kalimantan and Sulawesi.

Other places, like Papua, West Papua, East Java and North Sumatra, were all actively introducing their tourist destinations in Bali hoping that visitors to Bali would be willing to travel to places beyond the island.

Bali welcomed 2.8 million foreign tourists and almost 6 million domestic tourists in 2012. In the past, provincial administrations sponsored various promotions, but these were limited to passive exhibitions.

“At present, promotions come in various forms, from table top, to cultural nights, trips [for agents, journalists and related parties] to these less popular destinations,” Surya added.

He also said that the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry was now active in supporting the promotion of underdeveloped tourist spots across Indonesia. “But some provinces have already done promotion independently,” claimed Surya.

He acknowledged that the results of promotion were not obvious yet.

“The promotion is a long-term investment. You cannot expect results overnight,” he claimed.

Tri Diana MT, head of the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry’s Kalimantan and Sulawesi sub-section, said the ministry had supported the promotion of tourist destinations in Sulawesi and Kalimantan in Kuta in April.

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Sources: Bali Daily | Author: Wasti Atmodjo

A Sumatran tiger, one of thousands of species threatened by palm oil plantations and paper and timber businesses. (Photo: animalconnectionac.wordpress.com)

Indonesia is home to about a third of the world’s remaining tropical forests, which provide a habitat for endangered species such as the orangutan and Sumatran tiger.

For the past two years the government has imposed a moratorium on felling forests in an effort to halt the deforestation that has laid waste to much of the country’s virgin habitat and cleared the way for plantations of palm oil and pulp, paper and timber businesses.

But that moratorium is about to expire, and the termination would leave loggers and plantations free to expand into fresh areas.

Reports from agencies and local press on Friday night suggested the country’s president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was about to sign up to an extension of the deal.

Reuters quoted an unnamed government official who said the fresh agreement would be signed within a few days.

The extension would be a big victory for green campaigners.

Greenpeace last year helped broker a key deal with Sinar Mas, owner of vast pulp and paper and palm oil interests in the region. That deal will help prevent further deforestation, and restore swathes of forest now degraded by the encroachment of loggers and plantations.

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Sources: The Guardian | Author: Fiona Harvey

Photo: AFP PHOTO/SONNY TUMBELAKA

The crash, which did not kill anyone but resulted in dramatic photos of passengers’ being rescued from the water, came a month after the airline, the biggest Indonesian carrier, turned heads with its second major expansion deal in three years, ordering a record 234 planes March 18 from Airbus for $24 billion.

The purchase underscored the explosive growth of Lion Air as it struggled with a troublesome safety record, raising wider questions about air safety in Indonesia, one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets. The European Union has banned Lion Air from flying there, and the crash was one of several accidents involving the airline since it began commercial operations in 2000 with a single leased Boeing 737-200.

In 2004, a Lion Air jet crashed in Central Java Province, killing 25 people. In 2002, one of its planes crashed on takeoff in Riau Province on Sumatra Island, and in 2006, a Lion Air jet crashed after landing in Yogyakarta, in Central Java, although no one was killed in the 2002 and 2006 incidents. The low-cost carrier has also had multiple incidents in which planes have skidded off, run off or overrunn airport runways.

In addition, four Lion Air pilots were arrested by the police in separate incidents in 2011 and 2012 for possession of drugs including ecstasy pills and crystal methamphetamine.

But that spotty safety record has not curbed the ambitions of Rusdi Kirana, Lion’s media-shy founder and chief executive. On Thursday, Lion Air introduced the full-service Batik Air, which will serve both domestic and international routes. Despite being a low-cost carrier, Lion Air already dominates Indonesia’s domestic air travel market, with a 40 percent share, according to analysts.

Some people in the industry say Indonesia’s regulation of its airlines has failed to keep pace with the sector’s growth.

“Last I checked, we had less than 200 air safety inspectors for the whole country,” said Danang Parikesit, a transportation expert and president of the Indonesia Transportation Society. “You can imagine that with traffic increasing by 20 percent a year for the last five years and you have less than 200 safety inspectors? What do you expect?”

He said the country’s focus should be on improving regulation of the aviation industry, instead of blaming operators when an accident occurs.

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Sources: nytimes.com | Author: Joe Cochrane

Photo: kopipots.com

A 2012 survey on the behavior of foreign tourists organized by Bank Indonesia’s Bali and Nusa Tenggara office revealed that 41.72 percent of foreign visitors learned about the Island of the Gods from the Internet. Other sources of information came in the form of friends and relatives who had visited Bali (20.47 percent), tourism books (18.34 percent), tourism magazines (8.61 percent) and tourism exhibitions (9.28 percent).

The number of foreign tourists visiting the island has continued to rise. In 2011, Bali welcomed 2,756,579 foreign visitors, while in 2012, that number rose to 2,892,019 visitors. This year, Bali is targeting no less than 3 million foreign visitors.

Survey coordinator Stephanie Gunawan said that the information obtained from the Internet came in various forms, including online news, travelers’ blogs and social media.

Stephanie said that gadgets, such as smart phones and tablet computers, had made it easy for most people to access information on Bali, wherever they were and at any time.

Around 65.88 percent of the foreign tourists are professionals and business executives, who typically dislike wasting time and are usually well-prepared their holidays. Stephanie said that the Internet served as a very strategic promotional, marketing, order making and transaction tool that deserved to be developed. The survey revealed that around 19.84 percent of the visitors had stated their disappointment and expressed that they would not revisit the island.

The reasons varied from traffic congestion, to overpopulation, the changing face of Bali, environmental pollution and the dishonest practices of tour guides, immigration officials and other things. “When these things are published on the Internet, of course it will negatively affect Bali’s image in the eyes of the international public,” said Stephanie.

She said that her office had urged relevant stakeholders, including private parties, the government and businesses, to find immediate solutions to the problems.

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Sources: Bali Daily | Author: Wasti Atmodjo

Photo: travelblog.org

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) had forecast that climate shifts would still be apparent during April for most areas in Bali, while the remainder would have to wait until May or June.

“By mid-June, the dry season will have arrived in all areas of Bali,” BMKG Jembrana station head Wakodim told Bali Daily last month.

Ten out of 15 climate zones in Bali would have entered the dry season by early May, including Klungkung regency, parts of Gianyar regency, Nusa Penida Island, Karangasem, south Tabanan, northeast Bangli, parts of Badung, and most of Buleleng and Jembrana.

The wet season in Bali last year came quite late, in November, with some locals assuming the lateness was due to the laser-like beams shot toward the sky to disperse the clouds in order to prevent the three major construction projects being carried out on the island – the Simpang Siur underpass, the over-sea highway, and airport expansion – from being halted by rain.

With the dry season this year starting at the normal time, Bali will be an appealing destination, especially for tourists from countries experiencing winter at this time of year.

“Our high season start in May and lasts until September,” marketing communications manager at the Alila Villas Soori resort in Tabanan, Devina Hindom, said last week.

Devina said that, aside from European tourists, Asian tourists were also flocking to Bali.

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Source: The Jakarta Post Travel | Author: Raditya Margi

“The number of 4-5 stars hotels in Indonesia is 4.000 units, and all are not certified yet,” said the Secretary General of Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry Ukus Kuswara after the launching of SMP in Nusa Dua.

He said that not only stars hotels that don’t have a good security management system, but the other lower level tourist accommodation too.

According to Ukus, all hotels in Indonesia there are approximately 15.000 hotels that don’t have certificate yet so slowly it will be audited by the authorities to improve the standard of security and safety service.

The audit of security management system for all hotels will be started from three hotels located in Bali and Jakarta. Those three tourist accommodations are a pilot project of the system application to improve security service.

“The hotels that become pilot project are St Regis Bali Resort, Sheraton Kuta Bali, and The Dharmawangsa and Oakwood Premier Cozmo Hotel Jakarta,” he said.

Before the audit is done, he said, gradually the hotels will get training to improve security. There is a budget for audit but it is not decided yet.

He stated that the security quality is a strategic way to achieve success in tourism sector so that it could explore the potential of big world tourist market.

“Thus, safety is one of the pesona of ‘sadar Wisata and Sapta Pesona’ campaign,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of Security Maintenance Bureau (Kabaharkam) in National Police, Commissioner General Oegroseno said that the security management system doesn’t need devices or specific device standard as well as specific security personnel.

“The system is a unity involving features of personnel and coordination. We hope that after being audited the hotels could improve their service in security and safety,” he said.

Now, he said, the main priority is to audit hotels that will be used as the APEC Summit delegates’ accommodation that is scheduled in September 2013.

Source: The Bali times

As reported by the State News Agency Antara, Pastika said, “I will not offer resistance, I will not seal (the files) – whatever the decision (of the Court).

The governor and the province of Bali are being sued by WALHI before the State Administrative Court (PTUN) for irregularities in the long-term lease of the mangrove parklands to a private entity for development as a tourism project.

The Council on Public Information for Bali have ordered the governor to hand over eight documents requested by WAHLI in connection with the lease of the Taman Hutan Raya. 

The chief judge of the Council, Gde Santanu, has given the province two weeks to surrender the required documents or show cause why it should not.

WALHI has appealed to the courts, demanding the province be transparent in the process that allowed it to grant a tourism promotion permit to PT Tirta Rahmat Bahari to manage and operate the 102-hectare mangrove park.

Sources: balidiscovery.com

“The police artist constructed the sketch based on information provided by the victim,” North Kuta Police chief Adj. Comr. Reinhard Habonaran Nainggolan disclosed Monday.

“The victim remembered the face of the suspect quite clearly because he was not wearing a mask when the assault took place,” he said, adding that the sketch had been distributed to plainclothed detectives tasked with tracking down and apprehending the suspect.

The victim also provided the police with details of suspect’s other features. He is believed to be a thin dark-skinned local wearing a black T-shirt with black pants above the ankles, with straight black hair, 176 centimeters in height and around 35 years of age.

The victim, identified as 28-year-old female, was robbed and raped at Villa Damais on Jl. Bumbak, Banjar Anyar Kelod, Kerobokan district, North Kuta, Badung regency, where she and seven members of her family were vacationing.

She and her family cut their holiday short and returned to Perth on Sunday, after she reported the case to the police and underwent a medical examination at Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar. She had been in Bali for the past week.

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Sources: Bali Daily | Author: Ke Frans

photo: feedersarbagitadps.wordpress.com

Aside from taxis and self-employed locals offering motorcycle rides at distance-determined prices, you will notice the lack of land public transport in Bali.

This is quite unusual compared to many other Indonesian big cities that are crowded with hordes of buses and minivans. This situation raises the question of how the people actually get around on the island.

A few years back, you could still find bemo-ancient modified minivans- on Bali’s streets, but the Bali chapter of Land Transportation Owners Organization (Organda) reported last year that the number of bemo in Bali has greatly diminished, leaving the island with only 40 percent of its operating armada because locals prefer private vehicles over public transport.

Authorities responded by launching the state-owned Trans Sarbagita bus program, which is similar to Jakarta’s Trans Jakarta busway system, where buses serve the main roads, stopping only at designated places, with the support of feeder vehicles.

While the Bemo was a great choice of transportation for short distance traveling, taking longer journeys can be troublesome because it means having to switch cars –and, naturally, pay fares – multiple times.

Currently, some of the bemo armada is being transformed into feeder vehicles – carrying passengers from the rural streets to the Trans Sarbagita bus stops. It was launched in 2011 and Trans Sarbagita is currently operating on two corridors: one serving the Nusa Dua to Batu Bulan route, and the other connecting Denpasar with Jimbaran. A third route, which includes the bus going inside the Ngurah Rai Airport, will be introduced later this year.

“[Trans Sarbagita at the airport] will also be an attempt to attract more people to use public transport, as a solution for congested traffic going in and out of the airport,” Dewa Putu Punia Asa, the chief of the Transportation, Information and Communication Services (Dishubinfokom) for Bali, said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Despite enjoying quite a monopoly in the South Bali area, Trans Sarbagita has not yet become the preferred mode of transport as locals still lean toward the use of private vehicles to get around.

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Sources: Jakarta Post Travel | Author: Raditya Margi