N. Dua Festival needs to be improved to attract more visitors

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua

The sun was setting and the game of chess involving two grandmasters, Utut Adianto from Indonesia and Eugene Torre from the Philippines, had to be halted at the 20th move.

Held at the Nusa Gde park in Nusa Dua resort complex, using a special chess board with real people as chess pieces, the game has been one of the most popular performances at the ninth Nusa Dua Festival, which started on Sept. 9 and runs through Sept.18.

The chessmen were clad in traditional costumes. Choreographed by Kadek Suardana from the Arti Foundation, the game was an attractive blend of sport and Balinese performing art.

Accompanied by energetic gamelan music, the chess pieces danced elegantly every time the grand master made a step.

The dancers/chess pieces and the grandmasters mesmerized hundreds of viewers.

Also featured at the festival are a number of interesting items such as a birdsong contest, as well as the opening ceremony, which involved hundreds of participants.

Nusa Dua, usually quiet, was enlivened by a variety of arts activities, most of which took place at the Amphitheater.

However, some events, including the Nusa Dua 10K run and deep- sea fishing were canceled without explanation.

"We are still seeking the most appropriate format. We have to admit that there are still many shortcomings that need to be addressed here and there," said Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC) director I Made Mandra, from the agency that oversees the opulent Nusa Dua resort complex.

Developed in the early 1980s as Bali's first integrated resort complex, Nusa Dua is now home to dozens of luxury hotels, villas, restaurants, an amphitheater, an international-standard golf course and Bali International Convention Center.

Some of the island's best resort hotels, including the Westin, Grand Hyatt, Grand Melia, Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Bali Hilton, are located in this lavish complex.

While Kuta has the popular and extravagant Kuta Karnival, BTDC's management has organized the annual Nusa Dua Festival since l997.

The relatively remote location of Nusa Dua, some 30 kilometers south of Denpasar, has meant that many tourists and locals alike ignored the festival. While it was originally intended to attract foreign visitors, the management also considered it important to involve as many locals as possible.

To ensure the festival was run to international standards, much was done by the BTDC management. One of its endeavors was to invite Jakarta-based event organizer Bintang Convex to supervise the running of this year's festival.

Bali Convex Jakarta media relations officer Jan Sen Tjokro said that his company was trying to improve on the format of previous events. "It's not yet perfect but at least it received wide coverage," he added.

In addition to the cancellation of some programs, a number of trade fair participants also complained about the committee's lack of professionalism.

Booths were rented to participants from all over Indonesia to promote their products or services at the trade exhibition.

"We paid Rp 500,000 to share a booth rented by the Bondowoso regional administration from East Java. But, they (Bondowoso officials) went home before the exhibition was over," said booth tenant Masnah from East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

"We have already come across other such problems. Unfortunately, they could not show us a written agreement," maintained Jan Sen.

"This is a valuable lesson for us. We hope to continue working with BTDC and improving the festival's programs in order to enliven the whole event," he said.

Despite its shortcomings, this year's festival had more glitz. "We hope that Nusa Dua Festival might be included in the international art agenda in future years," Made Mandra argued.

In 2004, around 87,000 visitors attended the festival, he added.

"It's still too early to say if this festival has been a failure." Citing an example, Made Mantra quoted grandmaster Utut Adianto as saying that the international chess festival, Wijk Ann Zee, held in the Netherlands, needed years to become recognized as a reputable event.

"What is more important is to promote this festival in various international tourist and art exhibitions," Adianto added.