Bali International Spa & Wellness Expo 2011 re-scheduled

Announcement by the organizers:
Bali International Spa & Wellness Expo 2011 is a dedicated conference & Expo series that focuses on the entire Spa & Wellness value chain and its commercial viability. The program takes a holistic approach and offer an exceptional broad view of Spa & Wellness diversity and end-products. The topics are carefully selected to give you a deeper understanding of the Spa, Wellness, Marketing and Financial aspects of Spa commercialization. Successfully of this event Bali International Spa & Wellness Expo will be recognized as an important platform for productive exchanges among the Academic, Commercial and Investment community.
Since 2007, Bali Spa Wellness Expo is just an community events host by Indonesia Trade Minister, continued to 2008 and it gain many local participant to participate on this events. and 2011 The Indonesia Goverment start to think that Indonesia should be as a World Herbal Heritage and The Best Spa Destination in The World on 2009 and 2010 and together hosted The 1st Bali International Spa & Wellness Expo 2011.

Re-schedule the events
As an Organizers, we are apologize and trully understand that all the preparation has been made by the participant, but we constantly endeavor to provide you with best in class services at all times. To ensure that we continue to offer valued services to our customers, we will be relocating our existing exhibition from Bali International Convention Center on 11 – 13 February 2011 to our new premises at Sanur Paradise Convention Center, 9th – 11th March 2011, by the fully consideration of the Market, traffic, geographic places to other cities, hotel accomodation, transportation.
The new location also includes an upgraded customer lounge which offers a spacious seating area giving you more privacy and a pleasant atmosphere along with the same exclusive customer privileges.
We look forward to being of continued service to you and I hope you will enjoy the benefits of our trade show at our new exhibition location.

Sanur Hotels

French ‘Survivor’ to shoot in Raja Ampat

Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik is excited about a French filmmaker’s plans to shoot a reality television series in the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua.

Jero said Thursday about 200 crew members would film "Koh Lanta", the French franchise of the popular American reality television show "Survivor", in Raja Ampat.

"We will participate in the filming of ‘Koh Lanta’ by one of the biggest filmmakers in Europe. They will produce an adventure show featuring the beauty of Raja Ampat," Jero said.

"This will help promote our tourism, as 'Eat Pray Love' has done," he said, referring to a film featuring Julia Roberts released last year, a portion of which was shot in Bali.

Jero earlier said Indonesia aimed for 7.7 million foreign visitors in 2011, a 10 percent increase from the 7 million in 2010.

Mbah Maridjan’s home now tourist attraction

Mount Merapi’s deceased spiritual guardian Mbah Maridjan’s home in Kinahrejo hamlet in Sleman, Yogyakarta, has now become a tourist attraction.

The remains of Mbah Maridjan’s house are currently one of the most visited attractions for tourists.

“Nearly every day hundreds of tourists come to see Mbah Maridjan’s home and its surroundings. The number of visitors is also especially high on weekends,” said local tour guide Sunardi, 40, who lives in Ngrangkah on Wednesday, as quoted by Antara News.

Many Kinahrejo, Ngrangkah and Umbulharjo residents are also using this opportunity to provide motorcycle taxi services, since the road is difficult for larger vehicles.

“The cost is only Rp 20,000 [US$2.22] one way, and tourists are escorted throughout Ngrangkah and Kinahrejo for as long as they want, including to scenic places to photograph,” Sunardi said.

If tourists do not take a motorcycle taxi, they have to walk one and a half kilometers. Local residents also do not allow private cars to drive to Kinahrejo to prevent traffic jams.

According to Sunardi, one motorcycle can assist up to 10 visitors a day. There are currently more than 10 motorcycle drivers working in turns.

Ki Surakso Hargo, also known as Mbah Maridjan and considered the spiritual guardian of Mount Merapi, was found dead, possibly burned by hot ash from the volcano, in his home in a mountain village in Yogyakarta in November of last year. He was 85 years old.

He first made headlines when Merapi erupted four years ago, as he and several of his followers refused to evacuate the area. Many believed the 2006 eruption would not get worse because Mbah Maridjan had remained on Mount Merapi’s slopes.

135-Room Hotel Under Construction in Kuta, Bali

Grand Whiz Budget Property to Open in Tuban, Kuta – Bali in October 2011.
(1/3/2011) In the midst of calls for a moratorium on new hotel construction in Bali, PT Intiwhiz has commenced construction of a 135-room hotel on Jalan Kartika Plaza in Kuta.

The property will operate under the brand Grand Whiz.

Bisnis Bali reports that the President Director and CEO of PT Intiwhiz, Moerdjianto Soesilo Tjahjono, laid the cornerstone of the hotel on Monday. December 27, 2010. The property occupies a 2,035 square meter plot with a total investment of Rp. 65 billion (US$7.2 million).

"Kuta is the center for both international and domestic tourists visiting Bali. For this reason, we are convinced that we can succeed with a hotel in this location," explained Moerdjianto.

Moerdjianto said his company has been in he hotel business since 1990 operating as PT Intiland Development, establishing the new company PT Intiwhiz three years ago. In addition to constructing new hotels, Grand Whiz Hotels are also prepared to acquire existing properties who share their operating concept.

The company is targeting to operate 60 two and three star hotels across Indonesia in its first five years of existence.

The new hotel company is mainly targeting the domestic market segment expected to comprise 80% of its market mix. Initial business models are to achieve an average 60% occupancy with a heavy emphasis on Internet sales.

The Bali property is slated for completion in October 2011, in time for the Christmas and New Year's peak seasons.

© Bali Discovery Tours. Articles may be quoted and reproduced if attributed to http://www.balidiscovery.com. All images and graphics are copyright protected.

Indonesia, Singapore to jointly develop cruise ship tourism

Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to jointly develop cruise ship tourism in the neighbors' latest move to boost bilateral economic ties.
Indonesian Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said here on Tuesday that the agreement was reached after a meeting between Singaporean Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang at the former’s office in Jakarta.
“Singapore is enjoying a cruise tourism boom and they need areas that the cruises can visit; one of them being Bali. From Bali they can explore eastern Indonesia, which has many potential marine tourist sites,” Hatta said.
He further elaborated that cruise ship tourism was one of six sectors Indonesia and Singapore wished to develop together.
Other targets of bilateral cooperations include civil aviation, manpower, agribusiness, investments, and cooperation in the special economic zones of Batam, Bintan and Karimun; three Indonesian regions bordering with the city state.
On the agribusiness sector, Hatta said the two countries had agreed that Indonesia would increase its vegetable and fruits exports to Singapore by 20 percent each year.

Indraswari Amerta Ricard: Bringing our beloved tempeh to Paris

Where others see problems, entrepreneurs see opportunities. This adage certainly holds true for Indraswari Amerta Ricard, a shrewd business woman who supplies Indonesians expatriated to Paris with their favorite specialty, tempeh.
Being a member of the Indonesian community in Paris, the 38-year-old Indraswari quickly realized the 3,000 Indonesians living in the greater area of Paris missed their dearly loved soy bean cake, tempeh, despite living in one of the world’s meccas of fine food.
“Quite a few Indonesian women are fed up making bad tempeh too,” she said, while cooking her own in her small apartment in the outskirts of Paris. Born with an entrepreneurial spirit, Indras, as she is popularly called among Indonesian circles, wasted no time at trying her hand at making tempeh. Since early 2010, her tempeh products wrapped in plastic and measuring 23 by 15 centimeters have been selling like hot cakes.
“I deliver 12 blocks of tempeh twice a week at the Indonesian embassy cafeteria,” she said. “They are always sold out and I often have to rush back with more supplies in the evening whenever there is an urgent demand.

Read more (article by Retno Djojo)..

163,000 holidaymakers flock to Ancol Beach Park

On the first day of 2011, about 163,000 people spent their new year holidays at Ancol beach park in northern Jakarta, an Ancol beach park`s worker said.

"The most favorite spot for them is the eastern beach due to its spacious area," Andhika told ANTARA News here Saturday.

Compared to last year`s number of visitors, this year`s was higher. Last year, the Ancol beach park was just visited by 110,000 new year`s holidaymakers, he said.

The increasing number of visitors during this new year holiday season might partly be triggered by the availability of more access-roads and more spacious car parks, he said.
The Ancol car parks could currently accommodate 80,000 cars, Andhika said.

In attracting more visitors, the Ancol beach park management also held various genres of music concerts at the Karnaval (carnival) beach, Indah beach and Festival beach, he said.

The visitors were entertained by pop, rock, and Dangdut musicians, including the popular ST 12 band, he said.

Millions of Indonesians and foreign tourists spent their new year holidays at popular tourist resorts, including National Monument complex in central Jakarta and Bali island.

However, a holidaymaker from Bandung district, West Java, died of drowning at Pangandaran beach, Ciamis district, on Saturday.

The accident occurred at about 09.30 AM local time when Kurnia bin Ateng, 27, was swimming near the beach but the sea`s strong currents suddenly carried him away, said Dudi, the beach`s lifeguard.

Kurnia`s corpse was found by the Pangandaran beach`s lifeguards at about 12.00 PM about 50 meters away from his swimming spot.

"Kurnia is the resident of Cileunyi Kulon village, Cileunyi subdistrict, Bandung district, West Java," he said.

Dudi warned the Pangandaran beach`s visitors of not taking unncessary risks by swimming within the red flag area because the sea`s strong currents could harm them.

Fire guts a Bali Nirwana Resort villa

Fire gutted a unit of Bakrie Estate villa`s block 57 at Bali Nirwana Resort of Tanah Lot, Kediri subdistrict, Tabanan district, Bali province, on Friday night.

A Russian tourist named Michael who rent the unit suspected that the fire was caused by firework rockets launched to welcome the 2011 new year`s eve, a police officer said here Saturday.

Kediri subdistrict police chief, Adjunct Commissioner Kompian Srinadi said the villa was rented by Michael who was on holiday in Bali with his family members when the accident happened.

The fire sprinkling began gutting the villa`s coarse-grass roof at about 10.30 PM local timer when the firework rockets had been launched to the air, he said.

Kompian Srinadi the fire could be extinguished after two units of fire trucks were sent to the villa.

The exact causes of fire remained under the police investigation despite Michael`s explanation that it was caused by the fireworks, he said.

Another fire accident also destroyed a house in Dalung housing complex, Kuta Utara, but there were no reports of fatalities, he said.

The house was on fire when the owner left it for enjoying the new year`s eve festival, he said.