Following a meeting among representatives of local government agencies and key figures from tourism stakeholder organizations in Bali a tersely worded joint communique has been issued challenging those officials in Indonesia's central government who insist that Bali's tourism industry has largely recovered following the shocks of last year's terrorist attack, the woes of the Iraqi war, and the SARS panic.

Pointing to the presence of nearly 36,000 hotel rooms in Bali, the representatives from every tourism organization in Bali issued a statement insisting that tourism can only be deemed to have "recovered" when:

• Occupancy rates return to levels of between 70% to 80% for six consecutive months.

• Total room nights sold during a single month equal between 756,000 to 864,000.

• Based on currently achieved reduced length of stays of only 5 nights, when the number of tourist arrivals in a single month begin to achieve totals of between 151,200 to 182,800 visitors.

A Healthy Tourism Economy?

The obvious message being delivered by Bali's tourism professionals who issued the statement is that with current arrivals in Bali of 111,828 and 115,546 for July and August, respectively, it is premature at best to describe the island's tourism industry as anything approaching its former robust and healthy condition.

Melia Bali Villas & Spa Resort has concluded Phase I of its renovation program by bringing on line 250 completely renovated Superior Rooms and split level Junior Suites. Meanwhile, work continues on renovations to Executive Suites, Garden Villas and a new category of Family Rooms, due for completion in March 2004.

Superior Rooms

A complete redesign within the existing floor plans for this room category has achieved dramatic changes to the overall ambience of the room. Furnishings eliminated in the marble entry foyer have given a more expansive feeling to the room complimenting polished, built-in teakwood furnishings that have replaced former free-standing cabinets and rattan seating.

Soft furnishing fabrics and textile accents are in jewel tones, varying from Emerald, Opal and Sapphire for pool view rooms to Garnet, Topaz and Amber for garden view rooms.

Teak columns now flank the elegant, slatted wooden headboard, creating an illusion of posts bracing a decorative teakwood frieze. The platform bed is draped with a white duvet and throw pillows match a richly woven runner, which conveniently converts to a wall-hanging at night.

A teakwood entertainment center encases the satellite television, mini-bar and coffee/tea making facilities. A desk, equipped with a new hairdryer, has a large mirror with enough freestanding and recessed lighting to double as a vanity. Comfortable seating space for relaxation is furnished with a woven sea grass lounge chair and a reading lamp, with a cocktail table.

Sliding patio screens have been installed with suede cloth blackout curtains and delicate sheers. The spacious patio is fitted with a day bed for massage or relaxation, along with woven sea grass lounges and a cocktail table, perfect for in-room breakfast or sundown cocktails.

Bathroom in the Superior Rooms takes on a whole new feel, with new toilets and bathtubs forming part of a significant renovation of en suite facilities. Corner walls, facing onto the bedroom, have been replaced with frosted glass, wrapped in decorative, three-dimensional slats. This brightens and gives an expanded feel to the marble bathroom. Additional teak storage shelves have been added under a dual marble vanity.

Junior Suites

The Resort's Junior Suite redesign aim to bring a residential style ambient to that category of accommodation. The marble foyer now flows into the lower-level living area, accented by drop lighting. The living area has an expanded feel through the addition of a wide, floor-length mirror and a lounge using comfortable, plush furnishings dining and living areas have been reconfigured with a new 29-inch television entertainment system creating a separate viewing space in addition to the television-equipped bedroom area. A glass-top, teak pedestal table has replaced a rattan dinette. Slat-backed, teak armchairs with plush cushions provide comfortable seating for dining. Swag lamps have been replaced with contemporary, Japanese-influenced lighting in glass, steel, and handmade paper.

Soft furnishing fabrics and textile accents are in earthy tones, which vary: Sand, Coral and Sea Foam for pool view rooms; Sunset, Moss and Coral for garden view rooms. Soft Roman blinds dress patio doors, with deep set teak sashes and sheer drapes. Stairway and loft modifications included slatted railings with directional down lighting. Slip-stop trim improves staircase safety. Upstairs, the teakwood loft bedroom has been renovated in new cabinetry with overhead storage.

Instead of posts or canopies, the bed features a baldaquin treatment overhead and swirls of white tulle draped like bunting.

More information: Book a Stay at the Melia Bali Villa & Spa

November 14, 2003, will mark the 30^th anniversary of Bali Hyatt Hotel's grand opening as one of the island's first international standard hotels located in the village of Sanur.

To mark this landmark birthday for both resort and the island, a month-long schedule of community and staff activities is underway that will culminate with a staff party dinner, guest cocktails and special recognition for outstanding staff on November 14.

On each of the 30 days leading up to the birthday party specific events are being held ranging from management serving junior staff, blood donations, health activities, charity events, and religious ceremonies. Among the community-care events are visits to local orphanages, a cleaning blitz of Sanur's main thoroughfare, and a car wash for all vehicles passing through the hotel's premises. Other activities to take place during the 30 days of fun and solidarity are cooking competitions among non-kitchen staff, tours of the hotel for staff children, free grooming services to employees, a traditional Balinese dress day, and a luxury limousine transfers each week for selected members of the hotel's junior staff.

More information: Book a Stay at the Bali Hyatt

In a survey carried out among TIME Magazine readers during April and May of this year, Bali was chosen for the third consecutive year as the favorite holiday destination by the magazine's Asian-based readers. In the same survey, which also covered readers' preferences in airlines and hotels, Bali's Four Season's Resort was selected as the 2^nd most preferred resort and hotel in Asia.

Last August, a similar honor was bestowed on Bali by the readers of Travel & Leisure Magazine covered at balidiscovery.com in the article [Indestructible Magic – Bali].

TIME Magazine's official citation proclaiming Bali as "Asia's Most Favorite Destination" was formally handed to Professor Dr. I Gede Pitana, Bali's Chief of the Bali Tourism Authority by the magazine's Managing Director for Asia in a brief ceremony held in Singapore October 28, 2003.

To read the complete results of the most recent Time Magazine Readers Travel Choice Awards, follow the link below.

More information: Time's Reader Travel Choice Awards

David J. Booth and Nengah Ardika Adinata of the East Bali Poverty Project were recently awarded a "first prize" at the Third International Vetiver Conference in Guangzhou, China for their groundbreaking work in the use of vetiver grass in helping to break the cycle of poverty in one of Bali's most economically deprived regions.

The award, presented by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, the Patron of The Vetiver Network, was presented to the two representatives of the East Bali Poverty Project "for outstanding contributions to the research and development of the Vetiver System" for sustainable development in Bali.

Vetiver (Vetiveria zizaniodes) is a species of grass which can absorb harmful nutrients emanating from waste of all kinds – from pig effluent to leachate from garbage landfills, can avert serious verge erosion, and be used for the production of handicrafts and perfumes.

East Bali Poverty Project first introduced vetiver in March of 2000 in 19 hamlets in East Bali. The plant's cultivation has helped reduce erosion on sandy road verges, enhance organic farming development on previously steep and barren volcanic slopes, and provide the base material for handicraft production activities in both Bali and Lombok.

More information: East Bali Poverty Project Website

Original plans by the Government to privatize Bali's Ngurah Rai and Lombok's Selaparang airports in 2003 have been put on an indefinite hold, while the National Ministry for State Owned Enterprises focuses its attention first on the sale of other state-owned assets. According to the Ministry, the Government is at present fully occupied with the privatization of Bank Rakyat Indonesia, National Gas Company (PGN), and Indocement - meaning the airport privatization will have to wait.

Plan to privatize the non-aeronautical aspects of Bali's and Lombok's airport had already progressed to the stage of socializing the sale to the general public, hiring financial and legal advisors, and making detailed valuations of the items to be offered for private ownership when the Ministry decided that insufficient time remained to consult and obtain the consent of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), as required under law.

The Government – badly in need of additional cash – had set for itself a target of Rp. 8 trillion (approximately US$ 941.2 million) in sales proceeds during the current year from state-owned enterprises, including banks and utilities.

More information: Bali's Airport to be Privatized

Host of his own weekly national TV talk show, author, cartoonist, and successful businessman - many people do not realize that Jaya Suprana is also one of Indonesia's greatest musical treasures. A composer and graduate of the Musikhochschule Münster and Folkwanghochschule Essen in Germany, Jaya Suprana is one of Indonesia's most accomplished musical performers.

Performing for one night in Bali on Saturday, December 6, 2003, in a benefit concert that will see Mr. Suprana return to the island of his birth, he will play a number of his own compositions, Indonesian classical pieces, selected evergreens including numbers by the Bee Gees and Willy Nelson, and a show-stopping finale multi-media presentation - Indonesia Pusaka in which Jaya Suprana accompanies President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Gus Dur, Amien Rais, Akbar Tanjung, and a host of national celebrities on the piano as they sing this much-loved Indonesian ballad.

What Others Say About Jaya Suprana

"Jaya Suprana is known as one of Indonesia's most renowned composers. His works are considered great and neat. Jaya always includes Indonesian ethnical elements in his compositions and that is what makes his music unique. Through his compositions he is preserving Indonesian culture."

Irsa Destiwi - music educator, performer

"The compositions of Jaya Suprana, which I have played, have both Javanese and Balinese nuances full of tranquility and peacefullness."

Setyo A. Husodo - Faculty member of the Yayasan Pendikian Musik Indonesia

"Jaya Suprana is the great musical force. His greatness shines through particularly in his compositions ... As if he were a poet, a painter, and an experienced dancer; fluently speaking, he translates a beautiful painting into a visually living thing full of passion, movement and dynamics without neglecting accuracy or tempo and balance of tone."

Cicilia Yudha - Faculty Member of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Ohio, USA

"I have never imagined that the piano can sound like the Indonesian Gamelan and Flute; such beautiful sound, such simplicity. The piece not only touched me, it opened my eyes, ear and mind to such a degree that it opened a gate of possibilities. I knew then that a composer is like a painter and a story teller, that he can create new colors and tell a vast number of stories to such that there was no limit."

Lusian Lukman - Piano educator, Founder of the Classical Music Conservatory, Toronto, London

BIWA'S School Dropout Program

The evening concert is sponsored by Bali International Women Association (BIWA) with proceeds pledged to help prevent school dropouts by children affected by Bali's current economic crisis.



Tickets Available

Ticket for the special Jaya Suprana Solo Piano Recital are available at the following costs:

• Regular tickets Rp. 75,000 per person

• Student tickets Rp. 35,000

• Special VIP Seats Rp. 200,000 each which include a post-concert on stage cocktail reception with Jaya Suprana



Tickets are available at the following locations:

• Palanquin - Jalan Bypass Ngurah Rai, Simpang Siur

• BIWA Center - at P.T. Demato, Jalan Tambak Sari No, 9X, Banjar Blanjong, Sanur

• KCB Tours - Jalan Raya Kuta No. 127, Kuta

• Bali Discovery Tours - Kompleks Pertokoan Sanur Raya No. 27, Sanur

• Seniwati Gallery - Jalan Wedari 2B, Banjar Taman in Ubud.

For telephone orders of more information visit the BIWA Website or call the BIWA Center at 0361 -285552.

More information: BIWA Website

The Government of Bali and the Bali Tourism Authority are in the process of making the final selections for the inaugural presentation of Karyakarana Pariwisata Awards - a prestigious recognition from the people of Bali to those who have played key roles in the creation and development of Bali's tourism industry. The name for the awards, translated into English, suggests the recipients are individuals from the local community who have added to the welfare and security of the island through tourism.

In a press conference held at his office on Thursday, November 7, 2003, the Chief of the Bali Tourism Authority, Professor Dr. Gde Pitana said the inauguration of the annual awards is being undertaken to acknowledge the many individuals who have dedicated themselves to pioneering the development of Bali tourism, but have yet to be recognized for their contribution by the Government of Bali. According to Dr. Pitana, "these individuals have become an inspiration to us all to continue the work they have commenced."

Dr. Pitana explained that every effort has been made to ensure objectivity in the final selection process for those to earn the award by including members jury from government, the private sector, the general public, and academic circles.

Four Categories Set For Recognition

The Karyakarana Pariwisata Awards will be presented in four categories:

• Pragnaha presented for pioneering efforts in tourism.

• Dileksa for dedication and commitment to Bali's tourism.

• Wikasaka for services in the development of the island's tourism.

• Jasa Kategori Khusus - an award for special services to tourism.

According to local press reports, a local blue-ribbon selection committee will select this year's 12 recipients of the prestigious award from a list of 57 people nominated. Among those reportedly nominated to be honored this year include the late Governor of Bali, Professor I.B. Mantra; and Bali's Chief of Police, Made Mangku Pastika.

Hotels across Bali are reporting heavy booking activity over the coming Lebaran Holidays (November 23 – December 1, 2003) and the Christmas - New Year's Period (December 21, 2004 – January 06, 2004). Vacant rooms are either impossible to find or at a premium at many hotels during these traditionally high seasons as Bali-bound foreign holiday makers are supplemented by a large domestic market taking advantage of the extended public and school holidays.

Flights Also at a Premium

Airline seats bound for Bali are also in short supply with travel agents and tour operators from Australia and regional feeder cities, such as Singapore and Hong Kong, reporting Bali-bound seats in very short supply or completely sold out during the coming holiday periods.

balidiscovery.com

During periods of heavy hotel bookings the customer-friendly functionality of balidiscovery.com can prove especially helpful in planning an island holiday. Every hotel presented on the website automatically displays similarly priced hotels across the entire island and similarly priced hotels in close proximity – all on the same page.

balidiscovery.com's customer service staff responsible for handling incoming bookings always respond within 24 hours, often responding in a matter of hours. When the hotel requested is full, the reservation staff is certain to respond suggesting alternate dates at the same hotel or come back with details of similar properties still available during the dates originally requested.

It's all part of the balidisocvery.com difference.

Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Chapter for Bali and Nusa Tenggara met on Friday, October 31, 2003 to elect the board members for 2003-2005.

Selected to lead the Chapter as member of the Board are:

• Chairman: Mr. Al Purwa, MBA. Mr. Purwa is the owner of KCB Tours.

• Vice Chairman: Ms. Narima M. Yusof. Ms. Yusof is an Advisor to Marintur.

• Secretary: Ms. Ratna Radja Uly. Ms. Ratna Uly is the Chief Operating Officer of Baliforyou Holidays.

• Treasurer: Mr. Ir. I Made Mandra, M.Sc.. Mr. Mandra is the President Director of the Bali Tourism Development Corporation the owners and operators of the Nusa Dua Tourism Complex.

• Program Chairman: Mr. Djinaldi Gosana. Mr. Gosana is the General Manager of The Patra Bali Resort & Villas.

PATA Executive Committee

Named to the PATA Board Executive Committee:

• Mr. Drs. Jro Gede Karang T. Suarshana. Mr. Surshana is the owner of Suartur.

• Mr. Prof. Dr. Ir. Gde Pitana, M.Sc.. Dr. Pitana is the Chief of the Bali Tourism Authority.

• Mr. I.B. Ngurah Wijaya. Mr. Wijaya is the immediate past Chairman of the local chapter and the Operator of the Segara Village Hotel.

• Mr. Hans Hanliono. Mr. Hanliono is the Bali Manager for Garuda Indonesia.

• Executive Secretary: Ms. Evi Diana Putra.

Contact Information

The contact details for the Chapter:

PATA Bali and Nusa Tenggara Chapter

c/o Gedung Puputan Renon #41, 2nd Floor

Denpasar, Bali

Telephone ++62-(0)361-226578

Facsimile ++62-(0)361-226579

E-mail: patabalibusra@dps.centrin.net.id

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