Bali News / Island’s News Updates

Jardines de Bali, a Spanish company, plans to develop villas on Bali Island with an initial investment of Rp362 billion. The villas would be intended to attract up-scale tourists coming to Bali, chief executive of Jardines de Bali Group, Vernando Alonso Varea, said here on Wednesday.

He said his company had made a study and analysis on villa development and was ready to invest more if the investment data from the Indonesian government was completed.

The business study showed that Indonesia was among the best investment destinations because the country`s economy was growing, he said.

“Our first project in the tourist accommodation sector in Bali will be construction of several luxurious villas,” he said.

Data from the Bali provincial tourism service showed that there are currently 635 villas with a total of 3,958 rooms, mostly located in Badung District.

Some 57.41 percent of the villas are constructed in rural areas and 14.83 percent in coastal areas, according to the data.

Of the total number of existing villas, 45.60 percent are located in North Kuta sub district, 18.31 percent in Kuta sub district, 17.78 percent in South Kuta sub district, 17.61 percent in Mengwi sub district, and 0.70 percent in Abiansemal.

News by Antara - antara.co.id

Residents of Bondalem village in Buleleng regency, Bali, on Tuesday officially launched a 3 square kilometer sea conservation area and reef monitoring center that will be used as a center for education and information on coral reef ecosystems. The signing of a stone plaque by Buleleng Regent Putu Bagiada and the presentation of 40 blocks of coral from the head of the local maritime and fisheries agency to the Bondalem village head marked the launch.

The blocks will eventually be transplanted in the conservation area. The Buleleng regent, head of the tourism agency and several other regional officials symbolically transplanted pieces of coral which were placed in the conservation area by divers. “We started to initiate the conservation area in 2006 with help from the Reef Check Foundation,” Bondalem village head Gede Ngurah Sadu Adnyana told The Jakarta Post in Buleleng. He said coral reefs in the region had suffered from the practice of fish bombing and other harmful fishing practices. “Also, lots of residents made a living by taking coral and crushing it to make lime which they sold,” he said.

He said it was difficult to blame the residents for this because so many lived below the poverty line. “As a consequence of these harmful practices, the amount of fish caught by our fishermen kept decreasing daily, so I issued a village decree in 2006 and ordered residents to start protecting the sea and coral,” he said.

Reef Check Foundation chairwoman Naneng Setiasih said the sea conservation area would be like a bank for coral to grow. “We expect people will make use of the coral bank without laying their hands on the main deposit,” she said.

Head of the Bali Tourism Agency I Gede Nurjaya, in his speech during the launch ceremony, praised the residents of Bondalem for taking the initiative to protect the environment. “This is a very smart move by Buleleng residents because, after the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Bali last year, people are supposed to stop talking and start taking real action to overcome these issues,” he said. “I’m proud of Buleleng residents who have responded to climate change issues with real action. “At the end of the day this will help Bali tourism since the main attraction of tourism on the island is its environment and scenery,” he said. He said Buleleng had several tourism potentials that could be developed: ecotourism, spiritual tourism and agro tourism. He added that this step by the residents of Bondalem would help in developing the region’s ecotourism. “This conservation effort should be continued even though we probably will not experience the results ourselves, but at least we can preserve nature for our children and grandchildren,” he said.

Buleleng Regent Putu Bagiada said he was pleased with the initiative by Bondalem village and expected other villages would follow its lead. “Buleleng has at least 144 square kilometers of coastline, and we all need to cooperate in preserving it,” he said.

Written by Irawaty Wardany
Published by The Jakarta Post - thejakartapost.com

Heeding advice from the International Monetary Fund, Asias so-called TIPs - Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines - each made policy moves last week designed to cushion their economies from a slumping U.S. dollar and surging commodities prices.Asian central banks face potentially difficult choices between monetary and fiscal policies to concurrently fight inflation and a contraction of activity in the U.S. and slower growth in Europe,” the IMF said in a report April 11.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, confirmed a new central bank governor. The Philippines delayed a plan to sell some government assets. The Bank of Thailand maintained its benchmark interest rate as inflation remained close to the fastest pace in 20 months.

The chart of the day looks at how exchange rates may affect tourism in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. It shows monthly changes in foreign visitors in each nation since January 2007. During that period, the rupiah was one of just two currencies to weaken against the U.S. dollar in Asia, while the baht and peso posted the strongest gains. That made visits to places such as Cebu, Phuket and Bangkok comparatively more expensive than Bali.

“Challenges come from the U.S. slowdown and the weak dollar,” Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president of the World Travel & Tourism Council, said in an annual report by the London-based trade group last month. “However, the continued strong expansion in emerging countries, both as tourism destinations and as an increasing source of international visitors, means that the industry’s prospects remain bright into the medium term.”

Tourist Arrivals Surge

Indonesia’s foreign tourists in 2007 rose 16.3 percent from a year earlier, based on monthly data from the Immigration Department. Foreign visitors to the Philippines rose 8.7 percent, its Tourism Bureau said. Thailand’s international tourists increased 4.6 percent, its Immigration Bureau said.

Arrivals to Indonesia in the first two months of this year rose 38.1 percent from a year earlier. They increased 9.7 percent in the Philippines. Thailand’s arrivals rose 12.5 percent in January to February, based on preliminary figures from the central bank.

Thailand still far outpaced its neighbors in overall arrivals, averaging 1.2 million foreign tourists a month last year. Indonesia averaged 442,000 and the Philippines about 285,000.

Written by Lee J. Miller in Bangkok at lmiller@bloomberg.net
Published on bloomberg.com

For many, Bali represents paradise, a slice of heaven on earth. Visitors are overwhelmed by the beauty of the black volcanic sand beaches, the enchanting Hindu culture, and the intricately sculpted rice terraces. Few visitors to Bali are aware that just beyond the hustle and bustle of the main tourist attractions there is a natural paradise of astounding beauty protected by the Bali Barat National Park and Marine Reserve (Bali Barat). Read the rest of this entry …