(2/12/2012)
Following a recent dress down of Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport from the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Association of Travel Agents (ASITA) [See: An Abuse of Authority], the chairman of that organization has again lambasted the main air gateway for the island as being substandard.
Al Purwa, chairman of ASITA-Bali, said: “Together with the general public, as taxpayers we are very concerned with safety and convenience at the airport. However, at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport there is a great deal of distortion and inconvenience experienced by visiting tourists.”
According to Purwa, safety and convenience should be the prime concern of those who manage the Airport given the facility’s role as the “first impression” for every tourist visitor to Bali.
“In other countries' international airports there are no shadow paid porters like those found at our (Bali) airport. There are trolleys that can be used without payment. The porters (in other airports) only collect trolleys and return them to the terminal,” said Purwa, quoted in Bisnis Bali.
He also bemoaned that there are many shops at the Bali Airport selling the same merchandise, giving a negative impression to passengers that they were standing in an art market and not a modern airport.
“The perception of our airport is not positive with at least 16 money-change counters,” Purwa added. Purwa pointed out that at many international airports two money-changers are sufficient to serve an entire airport.
The inconvenient state of Bali’s airport is exacerbated by the current amount of construction now underway at that facility.
© Bali
Discovery Tours. Articles may be quoted and reproduced
if attributed to http://www.balidiscovery.com.
