Senior Japanese tourists enjoy the beauty of Bali

Senior Japanese tourists enjoy the beauty of Bali

Wahyoe Boediwardhana and Rita A.Widiadana, The Jakarta Post,
Ubud, Bali

When bombs rocked Bali on Oct. 12 last year, the 70-year-old
Otake Kenji, a retired man from Japan, was on a luxury liner on
its way to the island. At that time, he was on board with
hundreds of other Japanese elderly planning to spend several days
in Bali.

But they never reached the island as the ship's skipper
decided to continue on to Australia after learning about the
tragedy.

"Now, I am here with all of my friends. I really miss watching
the Kecak dance and other Balinese traditional performing arts,"
said Kenji with a bright smile on his wrinkled face.

"This is my third visit to Bali and I always want to come here
whenever possible," he added.

Kenji is among the 450 participants of Holiday Cruise Asuka
arriving at Padang Bai harbor in Karang Asem, East Bali on Monday
morning.

In the last few years, luxury liner arrivals were an everyday
thing in Bali but after the Oct. 12 blasts, when Bali was
deserted by foreign visitors, the arrival of 450 Japanese
tourists is really something and is important to improve the
shattered image of Bali's tourism industry.

Tourism has been the economic backbone of Bali and has helped
Indonesia overall, generating more than US$5.7 billion in revenue
every year. Bali has contributed the majority of the tourism
revenue but the tragedy has caused many potential tourists to
cancel their planned trips for security reasons. Soon, the number
of visiting tourists, dropped drastically. The number of Japanese
tourists visiting Bali ranked the second after the Australians.

The arrival of the M.S. Asuka Cruise with its 450 passengers,
organized by Japan-based Apex Tours, could at least show to the
world, especially the Japanese, that Bali is still a safe holiday
destination.

"We really love Bali and we decided to travel to the island
despite our country's travel advisory," Kenji said.

Naomi, a 53-year-old lecturer at the University of
Keio in Tokyo, even brought her elderly parents on the visit.
Naomi and her 76-year-old mother Yukiko said the visit to Bali
was their childhood dream.

"This is our first visit to this beautiful island, we always
dreamed of coming to Bali someday in our lives and our dream has
come true," said Naomi, who teaches Japanese language to foreign
students, including Indonesians.

She said her son visited Bali in September 2002. "He urged me
to come to Bali which he said was really a remarkable place,"
Naomi said.

Since last October, a number of countries, including
Australia, Japan, the United States, Britain and other European
countries have imposed travel warnings against their citizens who
plan to travel to Bali and other places in Indonesia.

State Minister of Culture and Tourism I Gede Ardhika and a
number of prominent figures in Bali's tourism industry have vowed
to carry out all-out promotional activities to attract more
tourists to the island.

"Soon after the Bali blasts, we contacted all embassies and
travel institutions around the world to convince them that Bali
is still safe. We also asked related governments to revoke their
travel advisories," Ardhika said.

Given the importance of this visit -- considering that more
than 100 luxury cruises from around the world had canceled their
trips to Bali since last October, Ardhika and several high-
ranking officials went to Padang Bai to privately welcome these
senior tourists.

To ensure the safety of these special visitors -- the first
large Japanese group to visit the island after the bombing
tragedy, the local police guarded the harbor. The cruise liner
arrived on 9 a.m. on Feb. 10.

At Padang Bai Harbor, the participants of the Asia Grand
Cruise 2003 were given the state's VIP treatment. Six beautiful
Balinese traditional dancers greeted them with charming
performance.

Y. Marimoto, general manager of the MS Asuka Cruise, said many
Japanese elderly preferred spending their winter holidays in warm
places like Bali and other places in Southeast Asia. Before
arriving in Bali, the Cruise stopped in Vietnam and Singapore.

"The majority of Japanese, especially the elderly, have heard
of the beauty of Bali, its people and its rich culture and
tradition," he said.

The Japanese visitors were later divided into several groups.
One of the groups was heading to Kintamani resort in Bangli, the
other went to the famous Ubud paddy-fields in Gianyar and Nusa
Dua resort complex near Denpasar.

"I think, Bali is still as beautiful and safe as in the
previous years. Nothing has changed," Kenji said.

The Japanese government, he said, still includes Bali as
watched-over holiday destinations. "Actually, I was worried but
when I arrived here, everything seems okay," Kenji said.

Fumiyo Kamiya also felt insecure whether he and his wife could
travel to Bali. "But I feel very happy especially when seeing the
marvelous landscape and unique traditions and culture," he said.

He hoped the Balinese maintain the island's safety and beauty
of its nature and traditions. "We promise to come here again
someday, hopefully," he said.