Bali guards its tourist appeal
Bali guards its tourist appeal
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Blue Lagoon and Suddenly Susan's star Brooke Shield just ended her two-week honeymoon with her new husband in a luxury villa in Bali.
Veteran rock star David Bowie and his supermodel wife Iman are frequent visitors to this resort island, and have even reportedly built an exclusive residence in the area.
The flourishing hotel and restaurant business in Bali also show that the political turmoil in the other parts of the country has little impact on Bali as it is still a safe and attractive place to spend your holiday or run a business.
"Occupancy rate at our hotel is about 80 percent," claimed Sukasarinadi, public relations officer of Bali Hilton in Nusa Dua.
Grand Bali Beach Hotel's public relations manager Ninuk Witaningsih agreed that people were still flocking to Bali.
"I think most of our guests are not affected by the political crisis in Jakarta. They just want to spend their holiday enjoying the beauty of this island," Ninuk said.
In the heart of Kuta, hundreds of tourists shop for the latest fashion items or dine at the various cafes serving Balinese and international cuisine.
According to Hard Rock Hotel's marketing communication coordinator Lucia Dwicahyani, the hotel was fully booked last month.
"This shows there was no down turn in tourist arrivals despite the recent political crisis," Lucia said.
Tourism and business activities in the island has been running smoothly, says head of the Bali tourism office Gede Pitana.
"Most visitors have become accustomed to the political and social disturbances in Indonesia," Pitana said as quoted by the Nusa daily.
Some countries, he admitted, had earlier imposed travel bans on their citizens wanting to visit the country, especially Jakarta.
"But now, many foreigners have realized that Bali is quite far from Jakarta. Some of them do not even realize that the island is part of Indonesia," Pitana said.
Newlyweds Ron Wood and Mary from Melbourne, Australia were enjoying their time in the island.
"I think Bali is wonderful. Of course, we have no plan to visit Jakarta at the moment. But when everything is OK, we would like to visit Jakarta and other cities in Java. We have some friends there," said Ron at a cafe in Kuta.
Australian consular in Bali Ross Tysoe recently said he and his staff had been keeping a close eye on the political situation in Jakarta. "But, in Bali everything is quiet and still safe," he said.
Still, the provincial government of Bali is working hard to ensure the island remains safe.
For instance, during the recent political crisis, the authorities tightly guarded Ngurah Rai International Airport in Kuta and Gilimanuk Port in West Bali, which connects East Java and Bali.
State electricity company PT PLN had also anticipated the worst where the power supply might be disrupted.
"Electricity is important for households and industries in this tourist island. If something goes wrong with the distribution system, it will cripple all activities," said the manager of PLN's strategic business units, Tri Agus Cahyono. (raw)