A Step Ahead Of Autralian Government

The advisory for travel to Bali in Indonesia was lowered recently by the Australian government after a decade of urging holidaymakers to "reconsider" their need to travel.

In 2002, the advisory level was raised to "reconsider the need to travel", the second-highest on a scale of four. But now, it has dropped to the second-lowest level, "exercise a high degree of caution", which puts Bali at the same level as the Philippines and Thailand.

Both Australian and Indonesian businesses, travel associations and schools have welcomed the move.

Currently, Australian tourists account for over 26 per cent of inbound travel to the Indonesian island of Bali, and this number is expected to rise with the announcement.

Previously, despite the attack in 2005 and attacks on Western hotel chains in Jakarta in 2009, there was still an increase in the number of Australians' short-term visits from 288,000 in 2001 to 877,000 last year.

Indonesia became Australia’s second-most visited destination after New Zealand, pushing the US into third place.

So, what has changed to lower the Indonesia risk rating issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade?

According to consular policy head, Paula Ganly, “Iinformation from the embassy in Jakarta, the consul-general in Bali, intelligence reports and threat assessments indicate the "capacity and intent of terrorists to carry out attacks is less than it was.”

Ganly further says there is an improvement on the ability and commitment of Indonesian security authorities in addressing the threat.

Ganly added, if a rating stays at a high level, there would be complacency that would creep in among travelers, yet Australians have been very much aware of the "reconsider the need to travel" warning.

Though, there were some student organizations who prevented young people from travelling to Indonesia because of the high advisory level, Ganly says; despite this, there was still a rise in Indszonesia as a short-term holiday destination. This is because in part of the high Australian dollar.

Australia lowers Indonesia travel alert

Tourism of Bali may again go back to normal as the Australian government recently released a new travel alert to its citizens. The travel alert has now been put to a lower level, the same level as that of the Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, and India. With this alert, travelers are advised to “exercise a high degree of caution”.

Prior to this change, the Australian government advised its citizens to “reconsider their need to travel” to Indonesia. This is according to the statement issued by the Australian embassy based in Jakarta. And with the new alert, Australians are still being warned that a terrorist attack may possibly happen anytime.

With this change of alert level, a positive sign has emerged that Indonesia is doing well at its measures of combating terrorism in the country.

“This is a positive development, based on a carefully considered assessment of the level of threat to Australian travellers in Indonesia.” This is according to Greg Moriarty, Ambassador of Australia to Indonesia.

“The Australian Government accords a very high priority to the safety and security of the more than 850,000 Australians who now travel to Indonesia every year.
Providing objective travel advice is an important part of this approach,” the Ambassador added.

These travel advisories are only issued to give the citizens information on their travel overseas helping them make sound decisions. These are, however, not affected or tainted by any personal or political influences.

This good news will again make Bali’s tourism flourish again. The luxury Bali villas, Bali villas resort, and private villas in Bali, including the villas to rent in Bali, will again be visited and appreciated by tourists, local and foreign.

An Interview With Ida Bagus Rai Budarsa: Founder Of Hatten Wines

Hatten Wines

Ida Bagus Rai Budarsa, the founder of Hatten Wines in 1992, was recently interviewed with regards to his experience in the wine business.

Throughout the years, the produce from the Hatten Wines in Bali had gone to fill the cellars of the biggest hotels and restaurants in the island as well as has been tasted by the thousands of Bali luxury villas guests and visitors.

Budarsa at 47 still continues to promote his local wines on the island and beyond, thriving to become a Balinese icon and the pride of wine production. 

During his interview, when asked how challenging it was in the beginning of his business.

Budarsa answered that in terms of cultivating the grapes in the vineyard, at first it appears that Bali’s tropical climate had make it seems impossible for cultivating wine grapes.

Out of several experimentations of how to produce vineyards and grapes in a tropical setting, the Hatten Wines in Bali has produce of more than 800,000 bottles of wine per year, covering a range of 7 different varieties of wine, the First Child, a Rosé wine; the Second Born, a Rosé Sparkling wine; Alexandria, a white wine; AGA Red; Pino de Bali Red; AGA White; and the Tunjung, a Sparkling White wine.

Now, the Hatten Wines in Bali occupies some 15 hectares of lush green vineyards along the North Coast of Bali, particularly in Singaraja.

In its own vineyards, Hatten Wines has grown the local black grape, the Alphonse Lavallée French table grapes and white grape varieties (Belgia and Chasselas Loulou).

Budarsa also revealed that they are currently focusing on the domestic market as wines from Australia have saturated Italy and France in the foreign markets.

Though currently focusing domestically and looked down by many locals and expats, Hatten’s Aga White won a silver medal at Wine and Spirit Asia’s wine challenge in Singapore just last month, while its Alexandria won a bronze medal in the same challenge.

Budarsa also revealed that they still continue to keep on trying to promote their wine to consumers through prestigious blind tasting events. They are also providing free wine tastings at their outlets. 

Bali told to be creative

If Bali wants to keep its spot as favorite tourist destination and lure tourists back to visit its luxury Bali villas and Bali villas resort, then it has be creative and innovative so people will be attracted to the island paradise.

Bali will be exploring more opportunities that will open up their expansion in the Meeting Incentive Conference and Exhibition (MICE) market. This is according to Firmansyah Rahim, Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, Tourism Development Director General. He also further said that Bali will improve its wellness spas, develop cruise, water sports, as well as culinary attractions to add to its already very popular villas for rent in Bali.

“Bali has almost everything to offer to holidaymakers, as well as business people. Beautiful nature, culture, historical heritage and the most contemporary MICE facilities already exist here on the island. Effective promotion is really crucial,” added Rahim.

Furthermore, he said that there are 6 categories being mapped by the ministry and these include culture and history, art, sports and recreation, cuisine, spa and wellness, and MICE. Currently, the country is also making developments and investing on other destinations namely:  Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Toraja in South Sulawesi, Batam and Bintan Islands in Sumatra, Bunaken in North Sulawesi, Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, Komodo Island in East Nusa Tenggara, Yogyakarta, the Mentawai Islands in West Sumatra, Raja Ampat in West Papua, and Wakatobi in South Sulawesi.

Tourists from neighboring ASEAN countries like Thailand, Darussalam, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei are also flocking the island. Moreover, additional direct flights to Denpasar are being instilled like the Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Air Asia, and Thai Airways. Countries like China, India, Taiwan, Middle East, Australia, Japan, and South Korea are also making Bali as their destination of choice.

Aside from visiting and staying in the private villas in Bali and the different villas to rent in Bali, tourists also want to experience the real Bali life by wanting to stay in the villages like Seranga, Batur in Bangli, and Sibetan.

Aussie love affair with Asian countries continues growing

Australians continue to love the beautiful landscape and beaches of Asia, including its cheap flights, especially with the rising power of the dollar. In Indonesia alone, Australians are the number one tourists when it comes to their number while Thailand nationals fall in second and Chinese in third.

Because of its landscape, luxury Bali villas, Bali villas resort, and villas for rent in Bali, Australians have made a total of 900,000 trips to Indonesia last year alone, according to the figures revealed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

However, the Philippines, India, and Singapore are also beginning to be noticed by travelers. In the past year, there had been about 19 percent increase in trips to the Philippines, 15 percent to India, and 8 percent to Singapore. This is according to ABS Overseas Arrivals and Departure figures. On the other hand, trips by Australians had fallen last year by 30 percent.

Additional three extra guaranteed small-group trips have been noted to the 2012 schedule of Travel Indochina.

"The increase in tourism is a double-edge sword in some respects, as the country comes to grips with demand that is far outstripping supply," said Indochina’s Managing Director, Paul Hole.

"We like to go places that are different to our normal day-to-day experiences. Whether watching the sunrise over the ancient temples in Bagan (Myanmar), witnessing the monks collecting morning alms in Luang Prabang (Laos) or taking a cyclo ride in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), Asia provides a sense of being outside our daily experiences. We love the food, which has been integrated into our own cuisine and palette, and we also share an affinity with the outdoor lifestyle within South-East and North Asia, and a connection with the sea. Despite the fact there are a lot of practical reasons for the popularity of travelling to Asia, including the value for money and the number of airlines that service the region, the reality is that beyond that Australians and Asians have a fundamental value in common hospitality and a love of making people feel welcome,” he added.

According to Amanda Bruno, Marketing Manager of Wendy Wu Tours, Asia is an accessible place and also gives great value for money.

"People can get a cultural experience and immerse themselves with the locals and see fantastic structures such as the Great Wall of China,” she added.

Bali Rice Field Cultivation System Listed on UNESCO World Heritage

Subak System

Bali has been using a traditional yet unique cultivation system. Called Subak, it is a water management or irrigation system used on paddy fields. And recently, this Subak made it to the list of world-heritage by UNESCO.

According to Education and Culture and Deputy Minister Windu Nuryanti as quoted by the Jakarta Post, “The subak tradition of Bali has eventually been named as a UNESCO world-heritage activity”.

And this good news happened over a meeting in Saint Petersburg in Russia just last Monday.

Moreover, Nuryanti said that it took the Indonesian government about 12 years just to have the subak system recognized.

Subak’s contribution to the Balinese people goes beyond just irrigation. It is also a central pillar of the Balinese culture and society. The Subak, with the help of the farmers of Bali, not only paved the way for an efficient and ecologically sustainable rice-growing culture. More than that, it is also one that produces the most esthetic bodies of art and culture worldwide.

Putting the Subak on the UNESCO world heritage list helps address the threat to the system of the increasing and growing industry of the island.

And since the tourism industry is growing at an amazing pace, about 1,000 hectares of rice paddies are being converted into housing and tourist facilities each year which may include Bali villas, Bali luxury villas, and the villas for rent in Bali.

There is nothing wrong with promoting the tourism sector of Bali especially that it has a lot of accommodations for tourists like the Bali villas for rent. However, this old and useful system should not be pushed aside as it is vital to the lives of the Balinese people.

Bali Targets 3 Million Tourists in 2012

As the tourist arrivals in 2011 reached a total of 2.7 million, this year, the stakeholders of Bali’s tourism industry are targeting a whopping 3 million tourist arrivals. They are further confident that the gloomy and unstable economies of the many countries in the world will not have much impact or effect on Bali’s tourism. They also claim that Bali can increase its tourist arrivals by as much as 10 percent this year.

The Australians continue to rank first among all foreign nationals in terms of tourist arrival in Bali comprising 30 percent of the total tourist population in the island. Trailing it is China with 9 percent while Japanese comes in at third. The causes of Japan falling in third place with only 7 percent are the tsunami and earthquake disasters sometime in the middle of last year.

If Bali is able to achieve its goal, it would have an increase of 8.8 percent from the record of 2,756,579 tourists who came to visit Bali last year.

In order to achieve this, a call for support to all tourism stakeholders and the public has been made by IB Kade Subhisku, Head of the Bali Tourism Office, so that the government to overcome all the hindrances and problems that face Bali.

The Bali government sees that it needs to strengthen its tourism attractions such as the luxury Bali villas, Bali villas resort, and private villas in Bali by having attractive packages for their guests. The influx of tourists to Bali won’t be a problem since there are already many villas for rent Bali as well as luxury villas in Bali.

Indonesia wants more Australian cruises

According to the International Cruise Council Australasia, Australia is one of the largest and fastest-growing cruise markets in the world as about a half a million Australians had taken either a domestic or international cruise in the last year alone.

"It's absolutely booming here, and it just keeps growing,” says Edith Cowan University Professor of Tourism, Ross Dowling.

The figures alone of last year indicate that the passenger numbers increased by 27 percent and has increased by 300 percent since 2002.
 
According to experts, this rise in the interest in cruising may be due to changed attitudes about the idea as well as the prices being made more affordable and the increased number of ships that are used for cruising. If in the past, cruising was an activity for the elites, it has now been transformed into something for even the older and affluent people.
"Today you've got ships home ported in virtually every major port, so it's more accessible and more affordable and Australians are cruising as a result.  While Australians would have seldom considered a cruise 10 years ago, there's now almost a culture of cruising,” he added.

The price of the cruise, especially that it is now offered as a package, is very attractive.

"If you were to compare the inclusions of a cruise - your transport, accommodation, all your food, entertainment, lectures and enrichment programs - if you package that all up together versus a land holiday, it's great value for seeing multiple destinations in a set period of time,” says Adam Armstrong, commercial manager of Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean. 

The experience that people get from being on cruise ships is worthwhile.

"You meet a lot of good friends, people are making friends for life on cruise ships," he says.

“With people finding there are newer and bigger and better ships with greater facilities on offer, some people are making it their annual holiday and some retirees are going two or three times a year,” says John Treacy, editor and publisher of Cruising News magazine.


And while on cruise, passengers may also alight and stay for a day or two at the different luxury Bali villas and Bali villas resort to experience Bali. Villas for rent in Bali, as well as private villas in Bali, abound.

Garuda Orient Holidays has launched its revamped brochure for 2012

Garuda Orient Holidays

A new and more informative brochure has been released by Garuda Orient Holidays for 2012 entitled Bali & Indonesia. This time, it covers the entire archipelago of Indonesia beginning from Sumatra to Papua, including the island of the gods, Bali. This revamped brochure of 2012 is the anniversary edition.

The new brochure gives more in-depth guide and information for anyone who wants to see the country. From tours to luxury Bali villas, activities and sports, and Bali villas resorts, everything can be found in this brochure. No wonder it has become the most comprehensive in the markets of Australia and New Zealand.

“For Garuda Orient Holidays’ 30th anniversary we really wanted to take the brochure to the next level and showcase all of Indonesia which is made up of over 17,500 islands. Over the last 18 months we have seen a huge growth in requests from clients wanting to explore beyond Bali to places such as Lombok, the Borobudur temple in Java and the many world class surfing and diving locations throughout Indonesia. Changing the brochure title was a big change for the brand but with feedback from our loyal agents we know how important it is to make the brochure a selling & reference tool for the trade when presenting us to their clients,” said GOH Marketing Manager for Australia and New Zealand, Deb Corbett.


Among the information contained in the brochure, it is Bali, along with the private villas in Bali, that is the focus. Also, it promotes other barely touched areas of the island such as Uluwatu and Tembok.


 “I am so pleased to see a wholesaler diversify their Bali portfolio to feature more destinations within Indonesia as we receive so many requests from agents looking for an Australian based wholesaler that sells all of Indo,” said Craig Gibbons, Marketing and PR Manager of the Visit Indonesia Tourism Office-Australia.