Will Bali Hit 2.5 Million Visitors in 2010?

Bali by the Number: July Arrivals Up 10.3%. Putting Bali within Striking Distance of 2.5 Million Foreign Visitors by Year's End 2010.

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(9/1/2010) Bali arrivals for the month of July 2010 totaled 247,778, an improvement of 10.3% when compared to the same month in 2009 (224,636).

When comparing the period January – July, Bali arrivals for 2010 stand at 1,393,806 or 12.2% ahead of the same 7 months in 2009 (1,242,297).

On the assumption that Bali can maintain its current year-on-year growth rate of 12.2%, there is the potential of total arrivals to Bali of foreign visitors by the end of 2010 approaching or even slightly surpassing the 2.5 million mark.

Performance by Key Markets

• Australia - Australian visitors increased 39.98% when comparing July 2010 (63,552) with July 2009 (45,401). On a cumulative basis, January-July Australian arrivals are a truly amazing 50.87% ahead of 2009.

• Japan - Japanese arrivals provide no hope of a short term turn-around in that troubled economy. Gliding down a slippery slope, Japanese arrivals month-on-month for July 2010 (22,015) declined 31.55% as compared with July 2009 (32,161). On a cumulative basis for the first 7 months of 2010, Japanese arrivals are down a full 23.10%.

• Peoples Republic of China (PRC) - China's rapid-fire growth of visitors to Bali has cooled somewhat. July PRC arrivals increased 4.54% (19,750). On a cumulative basis year-on-year Chinese arrivals are up only 1.27%.

• Taiwan - Taiwanese visitors showed some signs of a possible turn around in progress, improving 9.65% month-on-month in July at 12,471. Despite this increase, year-on-year visitors from Taiwan are still down -4.51%.

• Malaysia - Malaysian arrivals in July improved 11% standing at 11,159. This was counter to a year-on-year decline of 2.09% for the first seven months of the year. Tourism professionals in Bali wait to see what, in any, negative impact on arrivals from Malaysia will be created by the escalating acrimony between Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur which has manifested itself in street demonstrations in both Jakarta and Bali that commenced in August.

• South Korea - South Korean arrivals improved month-on-month by 5.42% for July (11,635). The results for the first seven months of 2010 from South Korean are down 3.52% when compared to the same period in 2009.

• United Kingdom - U.K. foreign visitors remain bullish. July arrivals ex the U.K. improved 24.26% at 13,045. Year to date figures reflect similar robustness, improving 21.13%.

• France Summer holidays saw French arrivals for July 2010 improve 4.8% (14,533). Cumulative arrivals from France for January-July are down slightly by 1.63%

• Russia Good air access between Moscow and Bali are allowing Russian arrivals to counter-trend the lackluster Russian economy. July arrivals ex Russia improved 22.83% (4,621). When viewed for the first seven months of the years, 3.75% more Russians have come to Bali thus far in 2010 as compared to 2009.

• Singapore - Singapore arrivals improved a very substantial 58.36% for July 2010 (6.545). Similarly, year-on-year Singapore visitors are up 56.25%.

• The Netherlands - The rapid growth in Dutch visitors cooled somewhat in July, perhaps signally capacity issues as most flights are running very full. 0.5% fewer Dutch came to Bali in July 2010 (10,265) versus July 2009 (10,863). Year-on-year the Dutch market is still 29.14% ahead of 2009.

• U.S.A. - U.S. visitors to Bali declined 8.7% for July 2010 (6,570). Year on year Americans are still ahead of 2009 by 2%.

• Germany Although German visitors to Bali year-on-year are up 3.02%, the number of Germans coming to Bali in July declined 2.9% at 8,264.

Arrivals by Geographic Areas

Every geographic region of the world is showing improvement in visitors to Bali over the first seven months of the year. The Asia-Pacific remains the main engine of that growth, reflecting a wider travel trend of people taking holidays closer to home. The long-haul, longer-staying, higher spending markets from the Americas and Europe continue to grow also, but at approximately have the pace of countries from the Asia-Pacific.

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Sleman’s tourism villages ready for Idul Fitri

Ten tourism villages in Sleman regency are ready to welcome visitors during Idul Fitri, says a local official.

“The ten villages are Kembangarum, Kelor, Garongan and Ledoknonglo in Turi district; Pentingsari in Cangkringan; Tanjung in Sleman; Brayut in Nganglik; Ketingan in Mlati; Jethak in Godean and Turgo in Pakem,” tourism village forum chief Haryono said Wednesday as quoted by Antara.

Haryono said the villages are capable of welcoming up to 730 visitors, adding that Kelor village has been fully booked for Idul Fitri.

Toba Lake region holding great tourism potentials

North Sumatra`s Toba Lake region has great potential to be developed into a marine tourism area while Samosir Island`s plains and the surrounding mountains can become a nature , agro and cultural tourism destination.

The statement was made by the head of Samosir`s tourism office, Melani Butar Butar, here Wednesday.

She said the natural and cultural wealth of Samosir district held many things that would attract tourists because it was located on an island in Toba Lake.

"There are a lot of cultural and historical sites and also unique attractions , hereditary legacies in this area, " Melani said.

"Tangible tourism objects such as museums , holidaying sites and also beautiful panorama can be found easily here . Also, intangible assets such as cultural and historical objects of traditional societies and also cultural events that will attract tourists," she said.

Melani said that actually Toba Lake and the Samosir region were in the past already known as a foreign and domestic tourist destination. Their development as a tourist destination began in 1970 when they were visited by many ousters because of its beautiful panoramas , unique customs including its Batak tribal culture.

The most interesting thing in the region , according to her, was the legend of Toba Lake. In addition, there was Pusuk Buhit, the place where "Si Raja Batak" originated.

Then there were periodical geographic or geological occurrences in the lake which became one of the wonders of the world.

The Samosir district government had published a master plan on the development of the regions as a tourist destination and details of the enginering design of a hot water springs area or "aek rangat pangururan" while the Pusuk Buhit region was proposed to be the cultural heritage area

Five-Star Warung for Ramadan

During Ramadan, most restaurants in Jakarta are fond of offering Middle Eastern fare, like baba ghanoush, falafel, pita bread, tabouleh and baklava.

While this may be a welcome change, there are others who continually long for local dishes such as gado-gado (steamed vegetables with peanut sauce), nasi uduk (rice cooked with coconut milk) and pecel lele (deep-fried catfish) with the requisite heaping of sambal.

For a taste of Indonesian street food, JW Marriott Hotel in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, is providing a convenient, busker-free setting for breaking the fast. The five-star hotel has set up an all-you-can-eat, market-style buka puasa (breaking the fast) through Sept. 5.

But forget about waiters in black uniforms and bow ties. The atmosphere here is lively and casual. Some diners were even spotted eating nasi uduk and fried chicken with their hands in the traditional Indonesian fashion.

The hotel has recreated the market scene at its Meeting Center Terrace. There, one can find stalls with individual specialties that change on a daily basis.

There is also the option of al fresco dining, which is proving to be popular. To break my fast, I started with kolak, usually made of boiled bananas or sweet potatoes in palm sugar syrup, mixed with coconut milk and pandan leaves.

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Deep-sea images reveal colorful life off Indonesia

Scientists using cutting-edge technology to explore waters off Indonesia were wowed by colorful and diverse images of marine life on the ocean floor - including plate-sized sea spiders and flower-like sponges that appear to be carnivorous.

They predicted Thursday that as many as 40 new plant and animal species may have been discovered during the three-week expedition that ended Aug. 14.

More than 100 hours of video and 100,000 photographs, captured using a robotic vehicle with high-definition cameras, were piped to shore in real-time by satellite and high-speed Internet.

Verena Tunnicliffe, a professor at the University of Victoria in Canada, said the images provided an extraordinary glimpse into one of the globe's most complex and little-known marine ecosystems.

"Stalked sea lilies once covered the ocean, shallow and deep, but now are rare," she said in a written statement. "I've only seen a few in my career. But on this expedition, I was amazed to see them in great diversity."

Likewise, Tunnicliffe has also seen sea spiders before, but those were tiny in comparison, all around one-inch (2.5 centimeters) long: "The sea spiders ... on this mission were huge. Eight-inches (20-centimeters) or more across."

One animal captured on video looks like a flower, covered with glasslike needles, but scientists think it is probably a carnivorous sponge. The spikes, covered with sticky tissue, appear to capture food as it passes by.

Scientists used powerful sonar mapping system and the robotic vehicle to explore nearly 21,000 square miles (54,000 sq. kilometers) of sea floor off northern Indonesia, at depths ranging from 800 feet (240 meters) to over two miles (1.6 kilometers).

The mission was carried out by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's ship, the Okeanos Explorer. An Indonesian vessel, the Baruna Jaya IV, also took part, collecting specimens that, together with all rights for future use, will remain in the country.

See: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/welcome.html