Bali favorite island in Asia: Magazine

Bali favorite island in Asia: Magazine

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Bali's panoramic views and unique mixture of spiritualism and
tourism has made it the favorite island for travellers in the
Asia-Indian Ocean region, according to readers of Conde Nast
Traveler magazine.

The international award was received by Bali Tourism Agency
head I Gede Nurjaya last week in London at the World Travel Mart
2004, Antara news agency reported.

"Even though Bali has received numerous awards, many things
still need to be perfected to make it a high-quality tourist
destination," Nurjaya said.

The island beat out other attractive destinations such as
Phuket in Thailand and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. Borneo
and Bali's next-door neighbor Lombok also made it into the top 10
destination list; in eighth and 10th position respectively.

Conde Nast Traveler surveyed 241,000 subscribers to determine
the winner of this year's award. Other awards were also presented
to favorite cities, hotels, resorts, and modes of transport.

The award indicates that travelers still prefer Bali over
other islands, despite the bombing in 2002 and repeated travel
warnings issued by the United States and other countries.

Previously, Bali received a similar award from the Time
Magazine in 2003, which surveyed 60,000 readers around the globe.

The island has seen a surge of foreign tourists this year. In
the first 10 months some 1.22 million foreigners came to Bali,
already a significant increase on last year, when less than a
million foreigners came.