Sanur festival attracts visitors, improves image

The ongoing Sanur Festival has improved the image of Bali as a safe tourist destination, said Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik at the opening of the 2009 Sanur village Festival, on Wednesday night. The festival, which will conclude next Sunday, has become a special attraction for many local and foreign visitors to Bali, which the minister said had not been affected by last month's twin hotel bombings in Jakarta.

"We have been monitoring the condition of *tourism in* Bali since the bombing tragedy. It seems that the number of foreign arrivals has remained very high," Wacik said.

I.B. Gede Sidharta Putra, the chairman of the Sanur Development Foundation, said the occipancy rate of most hotels and villas in the Sanur area was around 80 percent.