June 25, p5

Australians remain the largest group of foreign tourist arrivals in Bali despite recent strained relations between the Australian and Indonesian governments, which may be exacerbated by recent reports of an incident in which a group of Melbourne men were mistreated by police and security guards in Bali.

Commenting on the allegations of violence and bribery committed by local police officers and security guards, Bali Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Hery Wiyanto said that the police had not received any official report.

Your comments:

I'€™ll grant you that some places in your country are very beautiful and I'€™ve enjoyed seeing them but if you took time to clean up the vast amounts of trash you throw away all the time, this place would be even more appealing: Imaging an Indonesia as clean as the likes of Singapore. It would be an amazing place to visit.

LAF

I would very much doubt the figures produced here. I am just back from a week in Bali last month and numbers are well down and as we like to eat outside the hotels, virtually every establishment had the same complaint: quiet.

That said I don'€™t think you can entirely blame the Oz-Indonesia thing.  Failure to invest in tourism infrastructure (new toll road excepted) and the reputation Bali is gaining as dirty and crowded has not helped.  Tourism is by nature fickle and Bali is being left behind.  

Oh, it will still be a haven for cheap bars for a while and top-end '€œfind myself'€ types but that too is fading.

Rusty Nails

Last month was May, which is always quieter as many folks wait for the coming school holidays before coming to Bali. As for the dirty/crowded etc., people have been saying that for a long while now and yet the numbers of tourists keep on going up every year.

So folks are coming and not minding the crowds. The number of flights to Bali keeps on increasing every year. Airlines surely know what they are doing when they add new/extra flights.

There are far too many for the available number of tourists, and yet rich Jakarta businessmen keep on pouring their cash into new hotels/spas/resorts which are running somewhat '€œempty'€.

Why? Answer '€” money laundering is a possibility. Even if it runs at a paper loss, the money that comes out of a hotel business is clean '€” the money that went in to build it.

Terry

If you travel to Bali only for the beaches, then you are seriously lacking education as to what you can do while here. Bali has a unique culture, amazing people with strong spiritual beliefs, unparalleled beauty both above and under the water with one of the largest marine biodiversities in the world a multitude of locations to explore and from active volcanoes to rice terraces that have been in use for hundreds of years.

If you'€™re open to others and new life experiences, you will learn about cultural activities such as traditional dancing, language, traditional artwork, ceremonies etc.

As for the rest of Indonesia, Flores and the Komodo National Park, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, there are loads of other amazing destinations to explore, each with their own unique culture and amazing offerings.

You just need to be open to learning new things and not just want to park your ass on the beach drinking beers. Living in Bali, you will get a quality of life that people in Australia or elsewhere can only dream of. Bali has international schools, top-class facilities such as hospitals, dentists etc: A solid, supportive expat community to be part of.  

Robin

So no drop but actually an increase?  I could have sworn certain individuals were voicing a sharp drop in tourism would happen, or it'€™s going to happen, or was going to happen, or something that goes along the lines of blah, blah, blah.

Now they are saying Bali sucks.  Cool, great you have the ability to visit other countries, and you should, each place has its own magic. If you have the income you can mold your trip and destination to your desires.  Bali isn'€™t for everyone (but it seems the overwhelming majority of individuals love it, from asking people there, but we are all riff raff eh?).

As a wine drinker, I don'€™t think Indonesia is the right country for you anyway because wine is super expensive (relative to buying it in say Australia).

Deddy K

Like many others we see Bali as a nice enough place but covered in a lot of rubbish and nothing much compared to other alternatives.

I have holidayed in many a tropical paradise and once even staged a major conference at a big hotel in Nusa Dua but would never do that again although for the beer drinkers they lapped it up.

Then again when one knows German and Czech beers there is no incentive there either.

Will Fiala

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