BALI UPDATE #285 - 04 March 2002

Editorial: What's Going on in Jakarta?

Garuda Orient Holiday's Nick Deacock Wonders What's Really Behind the Government's Suggested US$ 50 Visa Fee.

Bali Update readers and balidiscovery.com visitors from around the world continue to voice strong opinions about suggestions that the Government might impose a US$ 50 via fee.

Among them, Nick Deacock, Sydney-based Product Manager for Garuda Orient Holidays, with over 2 decades of experience in promoting Bali tourism, wrote to share the following:

"One has to wonder at the hidden agenda of the Indonesian Government to once again raise the spectre of a US$ 50 Visa on Arrival policy. For the past 5 or 6 years, every time business begins to recover, a new hurdle is thrown up to hinder its recovery - whether it is smoke haze, civil disturbance, ethnic unrest, economic collapse or over-publicised crime and/or protests. Sprinkled throughout are uncontrollable events - airline disasters, inaccurate media reporting and, regrettably, the events of September 11 ... what we have seen is one disaster after another that, in spite of our best efforts, makes the life of a tourism merchant one of angst and frustration when trying to promote this beautiful and diverse archipelago.

In spite of these negative impacts, Garuda Orient Holidays, through an aggressive and sustained promotional and marketing campaign, has just recorded its best year in 18 years of selling wholesale travel arrangements to Indonesia. Our company recorded its highest passenger numbers and highest profit levels in 2001.

Encouraged by early indications, Garuda Orient Holidays has recently reviewed its targets, and increased them - from an initially aggressive 25% growth over the previous year's record levels - to a "conservative 40%" increase.

However these figures will prove unreachable should the Indonesian Government proceed with its stated intention to impose a US$ 50 (approximately A$ 100 per person) Visa on Arrival policy.

Already reeling from the high costs of leaving Australia (due to increased airfares and more than A$ 100 in departure taxes and fees), an additional US$ 50 to enter Indonesia may be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back once and for all - especially for the average family who find Bali (in particular) an affordable destination (one that many Australians return to regularly, and, some, even several times a year) ... an extra A$ 400 for a family would result in a mass migration away from Bali towards "visa free" destinations like Fiji, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand - all of which are considered Bali major competitors by Garuda Orient Holidays.

In such circumstances, hotels and wholesalers are traditionally forced to negotiate reduced rates to keep prices attractive to the consumer. No one will be prepared to try and "cover" the US$ 50 visa fee, and prices will be blown out by this US$ 50 cost.

If the Indonesian Government wishes to plunder its tourist arrivals, surely there are other less destructive ways of doing so? Spending virtually nothing to support and promote tourism, this blatant grab for money would signal the death knell for one of Indonesia's most lucrative foreign income generating industries.

Better reporting and usage of the current 11% Government Tax levied on all tourism operations could result in more funds being made available to attract more tourism revenue. When the Tourism Authority of Thailand announced at ATF that they had budgeted over US$200 Million dollars for tourism promotion in 2003, Indonesia's paltry US$5 Million raised eyebrows, rather than hopes or expectations ...

To quote a line I use occasionally when negotiating hotel contracts - 'would you prefer a high room rate and low occupancy, or a moderate room rate and high occupancy?'. In reference to the proposed US$ 50 Visa on Arrival policy, Indonesia will see a rapid and continual reduction in the number of tourists prepared to pay this unreasonable visa fee.

Reference is made to the Government reviewing the "Visa Free" countries based on passenger arrivals, and lowering the number of "Visa Free" countries from 48 to a mere 9. What are the criteria for this review - ASEAN neighbours only? In reference to the Australian market, consideration must be given to a source market that is the most resilient (returning quickly after negative news events) and constant (passenger arrivals occur all year - rather than only during peak periods). Don't bite the hand that feeds you!

Certainly support ASEAN neighbours. But don't penalise markets that keep the Indonesian economy ticking along even during the softest periods."

More information: Share Your Comments with Bali Update

Entry #9 – Bali Dream Holiday Contest

This Week's Entry From a Reader in Jersey, Channel Islands.

Still 2 months remaining to send your version of a perfect dream holiday in Bali and have a chance to win 2 tickets on Singapore Airlines, 7 nights at the Fours Seasons Private Estates Bali at Jimbaran Bay, tours and transfers from Bali Discovery Tours, rafting and cycling excursions from Sobek, luxurious spa treatments from Mandara Spa, a helicopter tour from Air Bali, and Cooking Lessons from Bumbu Bali/Rumah Bali.

Entry's are welcome from everyone in every form, from both veteran travelers to Bali or those who have only dreamed of visiting our tropical paradise.

Carole Simpson from Jersey in the Channel Islands, carolebagus@psilink.co.je, is this week's featured entry in the Bali Dream Holiday Contest.

A Dream or a Way of Life

I awake to the sounds of the cocks crowing and the dogs barking, the village is slowly coming to life. It is still early. I lie quietly for a few minutes remembering where I am, then quietly get up and go outside into the sunshine.

I look around, Mt. Agung is peeping over the tops of the palm trees in the distance, the rice field in front of me is being ploughed, the old man knee deep in mud gently coaxing his oxen. I watch as his wife arrives and carefully places some rice on a leaf for him to eat and sits patiently waiting for him.

I see the garden, as if for the first time, with the mango trees full of fruit too green to eat, the jepun with its sweet smelling flowers and the colourful bougainvillea, frangipani and hibiscus. The chickens, squawking as they chase one another and the dog and cat lying peacefully together.

For a moment the noise startles me, Putu has woken. Before he has time to wake Made, I rush back into the house and pick him up. I marvel yet again at the sight and smell of him, I bury my face in his soft warm flesh, how can we have made something so perfect together?

Komang, adores her only grandson and soon takes him from me and wraps him in a sarong, he still has to be carried everywhere, as is the Balinese custom.

During the morning I am kept busy but after lunch the women in the family sit outside in the shade and try to teach me how to piece together the offerings, which are such an important part of the Hindu religion. Their nimble fingers work endlessly and they are very patient with me but when they start laughing at my poor efforts, I have to laugh with them. They have accepted me so readily into their large family, for that, I secretly give thanks.

Made comes home early, I am not expecting him but the restaurant where he works is quiet. I am overjoyed he is home. We talk, we laugh we play; this is the best time of the day. I am so happy when the three of us are together like this I cannot imagine being happier. Eventually he goes to sit outside and talk with the men, the news of the day has to be dissected and discussed in great detail before they retire for the night. I still do not have a good understanding of the Balinese language but I find it very relaxing to sit quietly listening to the rise and fall of their voices.

The baby is falling asleep in my arms, I go inside and place him gently on the bed and lay down beside him. The dark, the warmth of the night and the noises all around me are very comforting, I close my eyes and feel content, but instead of falling asleep, I wake up with a start and realise................it was all just a dream, a beautiful dream.

More information: How to Enter the Bali Dream Contest

Bali Fashion Week May 13-15, 2002

World's Fashion Conscious to Descend on Island for Third Annual Fashion Week.

The 3^rd Annual Bali Fashion Week (BFW 2002) will be held at the Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel in Kuta May 13-15, 2002.

As with previous Fashion Weeks, BFW 2002 will include a series of exciting fashion events showcasing top Indonesian fashion designers and producers of clothing, accessories and fabrics who will use the natural allure of Bali as an international tourist destination to draw potential buyers from around the world. A rapidly developing center for trade in garments, textiles and accessories - Bali is striving to join the ranks of international fashion capitals.

Pioneered by Indonesian fashion icon, Mardiana Ika, the Bali Fashion Week first two forays have successfully drawn the attention of not only international buyers but the international press, including coverage on CNN.

A graduate of the London College of Fashion in 1977, Ika has worked at the German fashion house of L'Estelle before starting her own company, Butoni Ltd, in Hong Kong. Active at a series of international fashion events in major venues held in Paris, Milan, Düsseldorf, Singapore and Hong Kong - Ika took this experience and established the Moda Bali Foundation in 1985.

Last year's event at the Grand Bali Beach Hotel drew a number of well known Indonesian designers including Adrianto Halim, Poppy Dharsono, Musa, Dina Midiani, Stephanus Hamy, Widy Budiardjo, Corrie Kastubi, and Denny Khosuma while featuring top model talent drawn from Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bali.

More information: Bali Fashion Week Website

A Code of Ethics for Handling Chinese Tourists?

Tourism Leaders in Bali See Need for Standards in Handling Mainland Visitors.

Two of Bali's local tourism leaders have suggested the time is right for the establishment of a Council on Tourism Ethics for handling the Chinese market in order to counter a growing concern for how that market is being handled in Bali.

Speaking to the Bali daily newspaper, Bali Post, Ray Suryawidjaya the Vice-Chairman of the Bali Branch of the Indonesian Hotel & Restaurant Association (PHRI) and I Gusti Bagus Yudhara, MBA Chairman of the Bali Chapter of the Association of Indonesian Tour Agents (ASITA), both called for the establishment of a professional ethics council to handle complaints resulting from the "auctioning" of Chinese visitors among tour guides operating in Bali. According to Suryawidjaya, the Council would have to be empowered to monitor tour fees and charges.

Meanwhile, discussions in Jakarta for a similar ethics council on a national level are said to be well-advanced in order to limit unhealthy competition and negative practice in the pursuit of the rapidly expanding Chinese market.

Mainland Chinese tourists visiting Bali and handled under a closed monopolistic system of agents with special appointments from the Government, who often fall victim to "zero-based-pricing" schemes in which guides actually purchase visiting Chinese tourists from appointed agents, regaining both their investment and making substantial profits through the subsequent unscrupulous handling of tours, shoppings and attractions tours.

Evoking The Human Spirit

Bali Based Artist Mukahar in Solo Exhibition in Jakarta.

Born in Central Java in 1971, pastel-artist Rudi Mukahar, has made Bali his home in 1990, where he has honed his artistic skills and developed a growing list of collectors of his portraits from around the globe.

In one of his first solo-exhibitions, Rudi Mukahar will display nearly 40 paintings in a show entitled Evoking The Human Spirit at the Kupu Kupu Art Project in Jakarta March 7 - March 23, 2002.

Working exclusively in pastels, Rudi's portraits present close-ups of Indonesian men, women and children, drawn from every age group. His compositions are penetrating, thought provokingly realistic in their detail, and oftentimes compellingly attractive.

The Kupu-Kupu Art Project is located at the Plaza Kebon Sirih, Podium II, Suite P2 #05B (next to the Satelindo Building) on Jalan Kebon Sirih No. 17-19.

For more information contact ++62-(0)21-39836621/22 or send an email via the link below.

More information: Contact the Kupu-Kupu Art Project

USS Blue Ridge Visits Bali

Is Bali Safe for Americans? - Hangovers and Too Many Souvenirs are the Real Threat to Member of U.S. Seventh Fleet on R & R Call in Bali.

USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19), under the command of Admiral James Meger, sailed into Bali on Friday, March 1, 2002, for a brief rest and recreation visit for its complement of 200 officers and 1200 enlisted men and women.

Commissioned on November 14, 1970, at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard as the most sophisticated command and control platform in the Navy, the ship provides all the services of a small town. Since October 1979, Blue Ridge has been forward deployed from Yokosuka, Japan as the flagship of Commander Seventh Fleet.

USS Blue Ridge frequently makes port calls throughout the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean including Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Australia.

The U.S. Navies personnel were the much welcomed and very safe guests of the people of Bali during their shore leave which included visits to local bars, restaurants, night spots and shopping venues.

More Money for Tourism Promotion?

Indonesia Among Nations in Region Spending Least on Tourism Promotion.

Members of Commission VI of Indonesia's national parliament have promised to fight for more promotional funds in 2003, following recent meetings with the Promotional Body for Culture and Tourism (BP Budpar).

Syamsul Maurif, a member of the Parliamentary Commission responsible for tourism oversight, said he would work to see more money dedicated to promotion, but insisted that the organization charged with promotion must strive to prevent the corruption of the funds by accounting completely for all expenditures.

Indonesia Spend Less

Indonesia currently allocates only US$ 3 million for tourism promotion, a paltry sum for attracting tourists to the country when compared to the US$ 200 million spent by Thailand, US$ 150 million by Malaysia and $60 million by Singapore.

Bali Exports Up 45%

Non-Oil Exports make a Dramatic Leap in January 2002.

Non-Oil exports for Bali for the month of January 2002 increased 45% as compared to the same month a year before. Total Exports tallied US$ 23.2 million for the month.

Dominating the list of items exported from the island were textiles and clothing products, handicrafts, seafood, and agricultural products.

Of the total for January, US$ 15 million was in textile products up from US$ 9 million in 2001; US$ 12.8 million in handicrafts, increasing 42.34% from the year before; and agricultural products totaled US$ 4.5 million down US$5.5 million from the previous year. (Bisnis Indonesia)

A Dutch Treat for Bali

Dutch Government Provides Grant for Horticultural Center.

The Dutch government has provided a US$ 10,000 financial grant to Bali for the development of a horticultural center.

According to I Dewa Nyoman Suartha, the Chief of Agriculture for the Province, Bali was selected for the Dutch grant in order to assist the island both in the production of food and in the development of agricultural based tourism.

Suartha, says the aid project will be located near Kintamani on an area covering 10 hectares near the villages of Sekaan and Katung. This area, formerly known for its production of oranges, has suffered in recent years from a blight that has destroyed many of the fruit producing trees. By building a series of green houses on this marginally productive land experts hope to be able to produce market quantities of high-end produce for local hotels and restaurants as well as export. Among the crops targeted are tomatoes, paprika (green and red peppers) and flowers.

The project, once in full operations, is targeted to produce 10 tons of marketable produce every week.

Serenity - An Exhibition by Linda Buller

Australian Female Artist Holds Month-Long Show at Seniwati Gallery.

Serenity - a solo exhibition by Australian artist Linda Buller will be held at Seniwati Gallery and Showspace, Jalan Raya, Ubud, through April 2, 2002.

Long a magnet to artists from around the world, Ubud has become the adopted home of this Melbourne artist who first visited the island seventeen years ago. An Australian female artist who has painted and exhibited consistently throughout her life, Linda Buller has been painting since the age of 13, beginning her formal studies a year later at the Anik Silvers Studio. She continued her training at the Bendigo Institute of Technology, studying fine arts during the late 1970's and 1980's. An active member of the Fitzroy (Melbourne) Arts scene, both as a performance poet and visual artist, she participated in group and solo exhibition at Rhumbella's Gallery, Brunswick St, Fitzroy. In 1986, Linda Buller was commissioned by the The City of Preston to paint the controversial Peace Mural.

Arriving in Bali in the 1980's, Buller found herself trapped by the island's charms. She currently paints in the hills of Ubud, immersed in the magic and the mysticism of her surroundings.

Bali Offered TB Laboratory

U.S. Financed Center Would Provide State-of-the-Art Pulmonary Health Lab.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has offered Bali's capital city government financial assistance to build an advanced laboratory to assist in the treatment of emphysema and other lung disorders.

The offer of U.S. financial assistance was reported by the Municipality's Public Relation's Officer, Ida Bagus Rahula, following a meeting between Bali's provincial health Chief, Dr. Molin, and Denpasar's Vice-Mayor, Ketut Robin.

USAID has publicly expressed concern over the high mortality rates by tuberculosis in Indonesia and the reported 4% infection rate for that disease among Bali's 3.2 million residents.

The proposed laboratory has been offered by the U.S. Government to Bali's Wangaya Public Hospital. City officials have asked that Denpasar's Health Chief and the Head of the hospital review the proposed laboratory within the context of the hospital's master plan for future development. (Republika Online - 27 February 2002)

Airport Service Charge Increased 33%

Effective 01 March 2002, Departure Service Charge Rp. 100,000.

Bali's airport authority, P T Angkasa Pura I, have announced that the Airport Service Charge on all departing international passengers will increase to Rp. 100,000 (+/- US$ 10), effective March 1, 2002.

Announced via a circular letter from the Airport Authority issued just two days before the planned increase, the hike was authorized via a decree from the Minister of Communication issued on February 21, 2002. The increase represents a 33% increase from the old charge of Rp. 75,000.

The history of increases applied to the service charge, sometimes referred to as the "airport tax", include an increase from Rp. 25,000 to 50,000, introduced in August of 1998 (see Bali Update #065), and a subsequent hike to Rp. 75,000, levied just last year, in June of 2001 (see Bali Update #246).

The distribution of the funds collected by the airport have been the source of a spirited debate between local legislators in Bali who insist that the local government is entitled to a substantial share of the airport service charge revenues generated from an airport based on its territory. A formal request from Bali's local government for a Rp. 10 billion (+/- US$ 1 million) payment is still pending before Angkasa Pura's national directors.

The Acting Chief of the Bali Airport Authority, Mr. I Ketut Erdi Nuka, has publicly stated that the revenues netted from the latest increase in the airport service charge will be used to add additional terminal facilities and much needed repairs and renovation of the public toilet facilities at the island's air gateway.

An estimated Rp. 143 billion (+/- US$ 14.3 million) was collected from Bali's departing airline passengers in 2001

The day following the announcement of the airport taxs increase, members of Bali's tourism industry reacted angrily to the proposed hike, criticizing the sudden nature of the announcement and the failure to socialize the decision before its actual introduction.

Speaking to the Indonesian language Bali Post (01 March 2002), Mr. I Gusti Bagus Yudhara, the Chairman of the Bali Chapter of the Association of Indonesian Travel Agents (ASITA) said "tourism professionals in Bali call on the airport authority - Angkasa Pusa to delay the introduction of the increase in the airport tax. This decision was very sudden and undertaken in an unfortunate circumstance."

Mr. Yudhara also explained that Bali tour operators are receiving numerous protests from foreign tour operators who feel the sudden change in airport tax violates existing understandings and should have been publicized far in advance, permitting local tour operators the chance to clarify the situation with their clients beforehand.

Departing domestic passengers are charged only a Rp. 15,000 airport service charge.

President in Bali

'Ibu' Megawati Flies in to Attend Conference on People Smuggling.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri flew into Bali on Wednesday, February 27, 2002, to formally open the Regional Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime being held on the Island.

The conference, sponsored by the Australian Government, includes direct and observer participation by some 11 nations.

Arriving by private jet from Jakarta and accompanied by Indonesian Foreign Minister, Hasan Wirayudha, the President was welcomed at the airport by Bali's Governor and then travelled directly to the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Nusa Dua to deliver the opening adress for the conference and strike a traditional gong marking the official opening of the meetings.

During her one day visit to Bali, Ibu Megawati also made a stop at a local grade school to bestow a grant of funds for the students being educated in the village of Benoa, near the site of the conference.

More information: Related Story on the People Smuggling Conference