MICE: Just a village affair in Sanur

By Grace Emilia

SANUR, Bali (JP): The whole street is blocked. Along both sides, Balinese children waving red and white paper flags are cheering out loudly. A group of gamelan performers, men wearing brilliant uniforms, lead a procession into a hotel's garden through a gateway lit by torches.

More than 100 international guests soon follow after alighting from their buses. Upon entering the gate, the children approach the guests and hand their paper flags to them. Smiling broadly, some guests hold the children's hands and ask them to walk with them into the garden.

Inside the beautiful garden, the smell of roasted chicken mixed with fresh peeled pineapple penetrates the clear air of Sanur Beach. A variety of delicious food prepared in several traditional huts is scattered around the garden.

All of a sudden, the gamelan sound is halted when kul-kul bang from four directions. All eyes are fixed on 12 girls and 12 boys who carry torches onto the stage. They sit on the square stage with a leader in the middle. A variety of dances, comic sketches and acrobatic displays are then performed. All the guests clap their hands in appreciation.

The imaginative description of the dinner session above involved a professional conference organizer, international conference participants, local villagers and a star-rated hotel in Sanur, Bali.

In reality, such perfect collaboration is not just a writer's imagination. Presently, some star-rated hotels in Sanur and professional conference organizers are collaborating to form the Sanur Village Bali Alliance.

"The main purpose is to bring Sanur back as a main MICE destination in Bali," said Richard Boustead, Indonesia regional director of operations for Radisson Hotels and Resorts, who is also general manager of Radisson Bali and among the first in proposing the idea of this alliance.

Meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) is a lucrative business, the yield of which is higher than for other tourism activities (see article below). Presently, the Nusa Dua area with its Bali International Convention Center and upmarket properties is the main venue for MICE activities in Bali, especially for major international events.

Other venues like Sanur, lacking in big convention facilities, are trying to find a breakthrough solution in marketing and selling the area but at the same time empowering local resources.

Sanur, which up to date is still Bali's largest traditional village, has 1,000 five-star hotel bedrooms, quite apart from those in the four-star category and below. But Sanur is also Bali's first beach resort, having started with the 11-story Bali Beach Hotel, a war-reparation gift from the Japanese.

"The future tourism concept of Bali is preserving the tradition. It's high time to develop local resources whilst at the same time giving a real Bali experience to our guests" added Brad Kirk, general manager of Bali Hyatt, a five-star hotel located in Sanur.

"In other words, this alliance is also a way to create a win- win solution between the industry and the locals. We want to make business meetings a village affair. To make it possible, we are cooperating with Yayasan Pembangunan Sanur (Sanur Development Foundation) to develop a meeting site within the village or the whole street when there is a MICE event.

"Within this concept, Sanur villagers can invite people into their homes, cook them food and discuss local traditions with them. So it's not like a guide telling you, as the guests experience it directly," explained Boustead.

"It's a real interaction, unlike in Nusa Dua where dance groups are simply brought into hotels. In such a situation, guests do not have a chance to have direct contact with the dancers or musicians themselves," added Kirk.

"Or we can organize a jukung (small boat) race in boats belonging to the villagers here as part of the incentive program. We can also encourage the guests to enter traditional markets or the Le Mayeur Museum and give donations there. It's Sanur's competitive edge which is both great fun for the guests, and beneficial for the locals and the preservation of local culture," added Putri Istiarini, director of sales of the Raddin Hotel.

The maturity of Bali on the whole as an international tourist destination makes it easier for the industry to cooperate with locals. Sarita Newton, the alliance's "operations manager" said that the Sanur Alliance does not have to work too hard in empowering the locals as they are highly organized already through their Banjar (traditional community system).

"As far as the business situation is concerned, due to political rifts in Indonesia, Bali is so far the only destination still in high demand for international conferences. Of course Bali is affected as well, but we still manage by having some business from other sources, i.e. from non-governmental organizations," maintained Weilin Han, assistant director of Pacto Convex, a professional conference organizer.

"The good news is that the domestic MICE market has been growing tremendously. The Australian market has not recovered much. But on bookings for 2001, the Asian market, especially from Singapore and Hong Kong, has shown better signs. I just hope that the United States won't continue with its travel warning as actually the American market itself shows a great interest to come to Bali and have meetings here," noted Sammy Carolus, director of business development at Bali Hyatt Hotel.

As the Sanur Alliance will conduct a lot of promotion and cooperation, i.e. with airlines, it seems to be a good fresh start in regaining international trust in Bali and Indonesia as a safe destination and a haven for MICE events.