Posts filed under 'Bali Tourism News'
The Bali Police will deploy 3,000 officers over the extremely busy Idul Fitri holidays expected to fill Bali hotels and roads with domestic visitors from approximately September 27, 2008 through October 05, 2008.
The beefing up of the number of uniformed and non-uniformed officers was announced by Bali’s Chief of Police, Inspector General T. Ashikin Husein in Denpasar on September 19, 2008. Bali’s top policeman said his officers would be concentrated at Bali’s sea port gateways, airport and public places to help guarantee the peace.
Ashikin told the press that while there is no indication of a specific threat of terrorism over the coming holidays, his department is always on guard to handle any situation that threatens public security.
© Bali Discovery Tours
Articles and images are copyright of Bali Discovery Tours
Source: http://www.balidiscovery.com
September 29th, 2008
Club Med’s Bali Resort in Nusa Dua is set to re-open December 18 this year after extensive renovations.
Families and couples staying at the resort will now be able to experience modern designs infused with Balinese architecture, all in the surroundings of the slopes of Batur Volcano.
There is also a new All-Inclusive Holiday Package on offer at Club Med Bali, Nusa Dua, that includes airfares, twin share Superior Accomodation, three buffet meals per day, sports and activities and spa treatments.
For more information visit www.clubmed.com.au
Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/
September 26th, 2008
(9/20/2008) Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. formally opened the doors of its latest resort - The St. Regis Bali Resort located in the Nusa Dua Complex, an elite beach enclave on the Southern tip of Bali. The St. Regis Bali Resort features 79 luxurious, oversized suites, 42 private villas and two exclusive residences – all complemented by world-class restaurants and bars, a signature Remède Spa, a wedding chapel, ballroom and state-of-the-art meeting space. Owned by PT Pacific Resorts Buana Indonesia, a subsidiary of PT Rajawali Corporation, Bali’s newest resort occupies a beachfront location offering views of the Indian Ocean and adjoining Bali Golf & Country Club.
Azure waters, calm man-made lagoons and sandy beaches create a tranquil and exclusive setting for this exotic island oasis. The St. Regis Bali Resort’s extraordinary landscape architecture by Bensley Design Studios weaves together art, traditional Balinese design and natural influences. Interiors by Manny Samson and Associates combine rich imported fabrics with indigenous materials and cultural artifacts that reflect the island’s rich heritage. Exquisite furnishings and amenities in the resort’s guest rooms and suites create a soothing yet luxurious setting for discerning global travelers.
Wining and Dining at the St. Regis
Dining at The St. Regis Bali Resort indulges the senses with a diverse menu of sophisticated island-inspired cuisine. Kayuputi, a dazzling beachfront restaurant with stylish “white wood” interior reflecting its Indonesian name, features an exotic menu of caviar, Wagyu beef and the location option of seafood al fresco enjoyed in a private cabana against an ocean backdrop. At the resort’s second restaurant, Boneka, guests are invited to savor authentic Asian-style dishes in a sophisticated and relaxing setting. The King Cole Bar honors the legacy of the Astors and the brand’s flagship property in New York, the birthplace of the famous St. Regis creation, the Bloody Mary. Home-made delicacies and imported culinary delight are available at Gourmand Deli. The St. Regis Butler Service is available to prepare a private, in room-barbecue prepared by a personal chef with wines offered by a persona; sommelier.
The Remède Spa
A range of pampering services are available at The St. Regis Bali Resort’s Remède Spa is set in a serene corner of the resort, surrounded by Koi Carp pond. Featuring twelve treatment rooms, the spa offers both traditional treatments and modern Remède therapies to create the ultimate spa experience. The signature Lulur Experience is an Indonesian exfoliation using a paste of sandalwood, turmeric, ground nuts and rice. Other facilities include an Aqua Vitale Pool providing a full body underwater massage, two phenomenal spa suites and a yoga center.
Weddings by the Sea
For guests seeking an exclusive and romantic wedding destination, The St. Regis Bali Resort offers an unparalleled wedding venue. Located directly on the resort’s private beach, the Cloud Nine Chapel is both intimate and elegant, complemented by the Cloud Nine Honeymoon Villa offers a majestic setting for an unforgettable wedding experience.
Meetings at the St. Regis
An ideal choice for meetings on Asia’s leading resort island, The St. Regis Bali Resort offers an exclusive beachfront location for social and corporate gatherings, featuring two boardrooms, state-of-the-art meeting and function space.
“The strength of the St. Regis brand with its rich history and timeless innovation is an essential component for our partnership and we believe The St. Regis Bali Resort is set to raise the bar for the hospitality industry within the resort island,” said Erhard Hotter, CEO Hotel Operations, PT Rajawali Corporation.
The Butler Can Do It!
Following in the tradition of the legendary St. Regis Hotel New York, The St. Regis Bali Resort will feature the same brand hallmarks including the iconic St. Regis Butler Service, bespoke guest experiences and luxury accommodations tailored to meet global travelers’ needs. Trained in the English tradition, the butlers provide ever-present, yet unobtrusive, service while anticipating guests needs and customizing each guest’s stay according to his or her specific tastes and preferences. The resort offers guests 12-hour and 24-hour personalized butler service, as well as separate butler quarters, complete with a private entrance, for each villa.
Book a Stay at [The St. Regis Resort Bali]
Articles and images are copyright of Bali Discovery Tours
Source: http://www.balidiscovery.com
September 26th, 2008
By JAYAGANDI JAYARAJ
ART has always been a big part of Huang Fong’s life. The 72-year-old self-taught artist has been linked to art even as he started off at a bicyle repair shop in his early days.
The Indonesian Chinese was then infusing colours into black-and-white photographs that were common in those days.
Later, he realised that the earnings from his part-time job were better than his full-time income derived from repairing bicycles.
So, it was only natural that he switched to do what he liked and knew best.
Specialising in water colours on canvas, which is a technique hard to master, Huang Fong said he had spent a few years researching and perfecting the technique.
He said the secret was in managing the oil that was found on the canvas before putting the colour in.
“Normally, water colour on canvas does not last long and is hard to distribute evenly due to the oil on the canvas but a lot of research and hard work helped me master it,” he said while he was in Kuala Lumpur for his first solo exhibition in Malaysia at the Metro Fine Art Gallery, Legend Hotel.
His motifs are based on what he sees around him in Bali, particularly women.
His subjects amplifies or focuses on the women of Bali clad in their intricate sarongs while at a chore or dance.
“Familiarity with my surroundings help me picture my scenes well and I work on that basis,” Huang Fong added.
Some of these paintings also feature nude women or semi-nude women, focusing on the delicate feminine curves.
“Why would I want to paint women? It’s simply because they are beautiful and there is no better option than beauty as a subject,” said the artist.
Each of Huang Fong’s paintings also feature a smoky effect on the background, lending them a mystical and mysterious feel.
“The smoke is a reference to incense smoke that is common in Bali,” he added.
There are 35 big and small art pieces for sale at the exhibition with prices ranging from RM6,000 and RM49,000.
The exhibition is open till Sept 27 and viewing time is from 11.30am to 5.30pm.
The artworks can also be viewed online at www.metro3gallery.com.
For details, call 03-4042 2224.
Source: http://thestar.com.my/metro
September 25th, 2008
The Little Bali Hotel & Resort Company has roundly applauded the advent of Pacific Blue services and resumption of Garuda Indonesia flights ex-Brisbane to ‘rediscovered’ Bali in the first half of December.
LBHRC Sales and Marketing Manager Paul Cutler said the news from both airlines was a fantastic and a long overdue boost for Bali’s return to prominence in the market.
“I could question why GA chose to reinstate its services after closing its Brisbane offices in June 2007 – they had the perfect opportunity to establish themselves in a demand filled marketplace,” he said.
“But it’s all good and the news is certainly a real leg-up for Bali’s hoteliers and Bali’s long suffering tourism industry in general.
“It will be interesting to see how things will develop from here.
“These new services will place even heavier demand on a destination that readily admits it has been severely under-rated, room rate wise, for quite some time.
“But now instead of the traditional ‘rate war’ that many hoteliers have had to fight, especially in low season when times are really tight, it will be interesting to see what the airlines come up with in the long-term from the perspective of fares even before the accommodation buying begins.
“This may give the Balinese industry the opportunity to bring their room rates back to the more realistic levels the destination deserves to have as a truly established, globally-popular tourism destination.
“Bali continues to strengthen in popularity. We have already seen a 54.8 per cent increase in business from Australia from January to July of this year compared to the same period 2007.*
The company’s Bali-based Senior Product Consultant Katrina Simorangkir said she knew of many Gold Coast and Brisbane Bali regulars who would be extremely happy with the news.
“The journey many of them have to undertake to reach Bali either via Sydney or Darwin becomes so lengthy as to render it ridiculous for many, with long waits along the way,” she said.
“As a result only the true Bali fans have bothered.”
Cutler said the LBHRC would be watching closely to see how the increased Brisbane-Fiji services impact on the South east Queensland marketplace,” he said alluding to the announcement this week that Air Pacific will commence a twice-weekly Coolangatta - Nadi service from 01 December.
This is addition to the carrier’s already existing daily Brisbane – Nadi services.
“South east Queensland is certainly growing at a rate of knots but I wonder just how deep this market is?
:”Is all this current extra capacity sustainable in current times? “
Visit the LBHRC website at www.thelittlebalihotelresortcompany.com.
A version of the original ‘Where the Bali hell are you’ video clip can still be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkH2DzSEiFM.
*Figures released by the Indonesian government indicate Australian visitor arrivals to Bali for the period January to July 2008 totalled 164.641 compared to the 106.367 total recorded for the same period in 2007, an increase of 54.8 per cent.
Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/
September 24th, 2008
Garuda Indonesia will honour its commitment to the Queensland market by resuming services to Bali, three times a week, in time for the commencement of the Queensland state school summer holidays.
Effective 14 December, GA713 will depart Brisbane every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday morning, arriving in Bali early afternoon. GA712 leaves Bali just before midnight arriving early morning in Brisbane.
Since suspending direct Brisbane Bali flights early last year Garuda has continued to be proactive in restoring the leisure market to Bali including offering user friendly through fares with Virgin Blue.
“It seems that Garuda Indonesia’s decision to continue supporting the Queensland market has proven worthwhile as, along with other Australian markets to Bali, it has grown significantly in the last twelve months”, said Mr. Poerwoko Soeparyono, Senior General Manager Australia/SWP.
“Bali is well and truly back on the map and we are delighted that, in less than two years, we are able to resume direct services to this popular holiday destination and thus honour our commitment made to Queenslanders in 2007.
As the only full service carrier flying this route, Garuda Indonesia will offer a total of 869 seats per week nonstop to Bali utilising the wide bodied Airbus A330 aircraft.
An announcement will be made shortly regarding Garuda fares and arrangements for passengers, currently booked and ticketed on Garuda flights via Sydney. As usual, Garuda will remain competitive.
The new Brisbane Bali schedules are expected to be accessible in reservations systems within the next few days and are subject to confirmation of slot times.
Reservation enquiries for Garuda Indonesia can be directed to 1300 365 330 or (02) 9334 9944.
Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/
September 23rd, 2008
The Canadian-born jewelry designer John Hardy and his American wife, Cynthia, opened Bambu Indah — or “beautiful bamboo” in Balinese — after selling their company, John Hardy, in 2007. The longtime Bali residents turned four transplanted Java houses (each the former residence of a Javanese nobleman and each more than 100 years old) into a rustic retreat on land adjacent to their own ironwood treehouse along the Sayan Ridge in Bali’s bucolic center.
Minutes downriver from Ubud’s most decadent resorts, Bambu Indah’s riverfront compound looks out at the stunning cascades of the Ayung River, rice fields, a Hindu temple called Pura Dalem Gede Bongkasa and, beyond, the multiple volcanic ridges surrounding Mount Batu Kau.
THE LOOK
Eco-luxe. Stone paths lead from the bamboo-encased reception area through rice paddies at various stages of growth and past a soaring black bamboo multipurpose structure reminiscent of an ancient ship.
Bambu Indah’s natural swimming pool is virtually indistinguishable from an indigenous pond, thanks to a recyclable black rubber membrane and tiny river fish.
THE ROOMS
Casually roped off from other recycled structures that house the Hardys’ own houseguests, the four one-room cottages are made of hand-carved teak. Named Padi (rice), Kuno (antique), Kuning (yellow) and Afrika by 12-year-old Carina Hardy, they are filled with various treasures collected on the family’s travels, including Tibetan vegetable-dye carpets, Kalimantan shields and Ethiopian rawhide benches.
Mosquito-netted four-poster beds would benefit from some pillow top fluffing, but each room’s movement-sensitive night lighting is a nice touch. The rustic ambience of the interiors is complemented by other modern add-ons like air-conditioning, wireless Internet access and bathrooms with hand-hammered copper sinks, plush towels and open-air rainfall showers.
AMENITIES
Pressure-point massages ($40 an hour) are available by appointment, as are private sessions with the yogi Therese Poulsen, formerly of YogaWorks in New York ($100 an hour).
Guests are given a two-page food questionnaire to help personalize menus. Breakfasts of local fruits like mangosteen and rambutan, plus homemade bread and Indonesia’s strong Toraja coffee, are served on porches, while a picnic lunch ($15 a person) by the river may consist of grilled peppers, mushrooms and cauliflower in a chicken stew. Dinner ($25 a person) might consist of organic greens followed by local grilled fish.
For an excursion, the Hardys’ most recent undertaking, the just-opened Green School (www.greenschool.org), is an eco-engineering feat worth visiting. Built of sustainable natural materials such as bamboo and alang-alang grass, the school is for students of preschool age through year eight.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Bambu Indah is a good stopover for eco-travelers looking for unfussy accommodations and a chance to trek through rice paddies or skinny-dip under the stars. But more pampered campers with aversions to mud or mosquitoes should bunk elsewhere.
The Kuning house costs $200 a night; Kuno is $250; Padi is $395 and the largest, Afrika, is $495. The rates do not include tax and service charge.
Bambu Indah, Banjar Baung, Desa Sayan, Ubud, Gianyar, Bali; (62-361) 975-124; (1-718) 874-8419 from the United States; www.bambuindah.com.
Source: http://travel.nytimes.com/
September 22nd, 2008
A hard landing by a China Airlines jet at Bali’s international airport has sent at least nine people to hospital with injuries ranging from broken limbs to small cuts according to local media reports.
Local media reports in Indonesia say that the China Airlines jet flying from Taipei, Taiwan to Denpasar encountered air turbulence causing a hard landing at Bali’s international airport at about midday local time today.
At least nine people are reported to have been injured and are being treated at local hospitals for injuries ranging from broken limbs to small cuts.
The plane is parked on the runway with no visible damage.
Source: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news
September 22nd, 2008
Readers who take part in the CEI 2009 Industry Survey this week could win two nights at the Laguna Resort and Spa Nusa Dua.
Each week for the next six weeks CEI will be asking its valued readers just one question what they think about convention bureaus, destinations, venues and services in Asia.
In return for your valuable opinions CEI will give readers multiple chances to win exotic prizes in destinations across Asia Pacific.Source: http://www.brandrepublic.com
September 19th, 2008
Anton Muhajir, Contributor, Bedugul
The hilly area of Bedugul, around a two-hour drive north of the island’s capital Denpasar, is one of the most scenic places in Bali.
For decades it has been the island’s biggest producer of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Recently, local farmers are breaking free from the prevailing trade and distribution scheme in order to gain better prices for their products and a better life for their families.
I Wayan Kanten, a vegetable grower in Bedugul’s Pancasari village, said the old scheme put farmers in a weak position. It also brought very little, if any, advantages to them.
“For all these years the farmers have always been poor. It turns out that this fact is the result of the ‘game’ those people play within the trade and distribution scheme. Those people are very cruel, they don’t want the farmers to have any knowledge of the market,” he said.
The people he was referring to are tengkulak (village-level commodity middlemen), pengepul (wholesale commodity collectors) and supplier (large scale buyers, who cater to big tourism facilities).
These people populate the long chain of trade and distribution, which separates the farmer from consumer.
Kanten, who is also the coordinator of the Muda Mandiri farmers’ group, said their products moved along a long chain of trade and distribution before reaching consumers. Under this old scheme, it is impossible for the local farmers to sell their products directly to the markets or the consumer.
After being harvested, paprika (bell peppers), tomatoes, carrots, Chinese cabbages and other fresh vegetables are usually sold to tengkulak, who mostly live in the same villages as the farmers.
The farmers sell their products to the tengkulak not because they like the prices offered by the tengkulak or out of a sense of loyalty to their fellow villagers. They sell to the tengkulak because they don’t have any choice.
These farmers are usually in heavy financial debts to the tengkulak, who generally come from wealthier families than the farmers.
The debts are used as leverage by tengkulak to force the local farmers to accept the cruel buying system known as ijon. The system allows the tengkulak to buy the crop even before the start of the harvest season.
“Consequently, the buying prices are set by the tengkulak. The farmers have no choice but to oblige due to their financial debts to the tengkulak,” Kanten said.
More often than not, the farmers do not receive their cash on the day the tengkulak take their products.
“It’s not a fair scheme. The farmers have to wait for up to three months before receiving the cash. Sometimes, it is not a full pay since the tengkulak only give half of the payment.”
The tengkulak send the products to the pengepul, who operate small to moderate-sized warehouses in the district’s capital or in Denpasar, a city 60 kilometers away from Bedugul.
Naturally, the tengkulak sell the products to the pengepul at higher prices than their ijon prices.
The pengepul sell the products to suppliers, which in turn sell those vegetables to the markets, hotels and restaurants across the island.
This long chain of trade and distribution, according to the coordinator of Bali Organic Association (BOA), Ni Luh Kartini, creates significant price discrepancies between the prices received by the farmers and the ones paid by the actual consumers.
“The farmers never know at what price their products are sold in the markets,” she said.
BOA has launched a program to assist the island’s farmers in embracing organic farming as well as in getting better prices for their products.
“The existing scheme is not fair because it doesn’t involve the farmers in any decision concerning pricing policy. In this scheme, the farmers will always be poor and the people who get rich from the trade are tengkulak, pengepul and suppliers.”
Realizing the flaws of the old scheme and their weak position, the Pancasari’s farmers established a farmers’ group. Assisted by BOA, the group has opened several new markets for their products.
Currently, their products are sold to restaurants and stores dedicated to organic farming’s products, including Bali Buddha and Manic Organic.
The group scored a major marketing victory when it sealed a contract with the Aero Catering Service (ACS) of the Ngurah Rai International Airport. ACS supplies the meals for the airlines’ passengers.
The contract requires the group to supply ACS with 400 kilograms of fresh vegetables on a daily basis. It provides the members of the group with a steady monthly revenue of Rp 27 million (US$2,860).
Under this new scheme, the farmers negotiate the price of their products directly with their actual consumers.
“Moreover, we also receive our payment without any delay — directly and in cash,” a member of the group said.
Source: The Jakarta Post
September 19th, 2008
Next Posts
Previous Posts