Bali Tourism News

Garuda supporters bring Christmas Spirit to Bali

On Tuesday 18 December, Garuda Indonesia in Sydney once again opened its doors for what has become an industry tradition at Christmas time – the annual Garuda “open house”.

Each year friends and colleagues are invited to celebrate the holiday season with some excellent food, a few drinks and the opportunity to share the spirit of giving that epitomizes Christmas by entering a raffle to raise funds for a Balinese charity.

This year the charity was the Baithel Children’s Home in East Bali.

“For several years, Garuda Indonesia’s Sydney staff has been supporting the children’s home with funds raised through regular “jeans” days,” NSW Sales Manager for Garuda Indonesia, Kerry Timms, said.

“The home provides shelter, food and care to some 200 children from Bali and other neighbouring islands; some as far away as Irian Jaya. Their lifestyle is very basic and meals consist mainly of rice and a few home grown vegetables but Bapak Gama and Ibu Sara  (pictured) provide a loving and stable environment for the children.”

The raffle raised $384 for Baithel with first prize of a magnum of champagne going to Carmel Eastick and Adam Watson of World Reps. Second prize, a 1.5 litre bottle of Shiraz, went to Elena Lonergan of TIFS.

“The real winners will be the children of Baithel, who collectively consume 75kg of rice per day! So, as you can imagine, the organizers are very grateful for any amount of financial assistance.” said Mr. Timms.
“Our thanks go to our industry partners for their generosity and contribution to an enjoyable day”.

Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/

Add comment January 4th, 2008

UNFCCC`S success expected to boost tourists arrivals in Bali

Denpasar (ANTARA News) - Tourism agents have expressed optimism that the number of foreign tourists visiting the resort island of Bali in the coming years will increase following the success of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Nusa Dua.

“We are absolutely optimistic that the number of foreign tourists visiting Bali will rise in the years to come,” Bali tourism agent Made Supatra Karang said here on Friday.

He said the optimism would become a reality following Bali`s success in hosting the United Nations conference on climate change in Nusa Dua tourist resort over the weekend.

“After the UN conference on climate change, the number of foreign tourists arriving at Ngurah Rai international airport has reached a daily average of 6,000,” Made Supatra said.

He said a rise in the hotel occupancy rate to 80-90 percent ahead of Christmas and the New Year was a sign that the tourism sector in Bali would recover soon.

Meanwhile, Bali Hotel Melia public relations officer Nova Terita said the occupancy rate of the hotel whose guests were mostly from Russia had risen to 90 percent as Christmas and the New Year were appraoching.

“The hotel`s occupancy rate this year has risen compared to the past few years,” Nova Terita said, adding that Christmas and the New Year in Bali this time would be more lively than last year because Bali had successfully hosted the UN conference on climate change.

Besides Made Supatra and Nova Terita, Dewi Indah Banowati of Hard Rock Hotel with 418 rooms in Kuta said her hotel`s occupancy rate had also reached 90 percent.

“Domestic tourists have made reservations for December 20 until January 1,” Dewi said. (*)

Source: ANTARA News

Add comment January 4th, 2008