Indonesian Senior Statesman Makes a Critical Appraisal the Development of National Tourism.

Anak Agung Gde Agung is one of Indonesia’s most distinguished and well-informed senior statesmen. He is a graduate of Harvard and Leiden universities. He as attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States and served as social services minister during the administration of President Abdurrahman Wahid.

The following article is reprinted from The Jakarta Post.

Indonesian Tourism – a National Tragedy

Government officials at all levels claim that Indonesia’s tourism is doing well, with each year seeing robust advancements. On the contrary, however, all the data indicate how dismally Indonesia’s tourism has done this past decade.

In the last 12 years to 2007, tourist numbers fluctuated between 4 million and 5 million visitors. The average length of stay has declined, from 10 days in 1997 to barely 8.5 days in 2008. Worst yet is how Indonesia compares with neighboring Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, which last year attracted 10 million, 15 million and 22 million visitors respectively.

How can such a huge discrepancy occur? How is it that Indonesia, brimming with such wealth in culture and natural beauty, attracts only a quarter of the tourists that basically barren Malaysia does?

This tragedy seems to have its source in the early 1980s, when Indonesia, strapped for funds, pointed to already world-famous Bali as its tourist cash cow. Since then, little has changed. As a result, Indonesia’s tourist attraction has been practically limited to Bali, with devastating consequences. Tourists overflow in quantum leaps to Bali, creating an explosion of infrastructure requirements that visibly erode the natural environment. …click here to read more

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OFFICIALS in Bali and Australia have played down concerns about a fresh terrorist bombing in Bali after reports of an imminent attack kept numbers down at bars and restaurants and sparked a massive police presence on the streets on New Year’s Eve.

As revellers sought to avoid potential terror targets following a warning from Bali Governor Mangku Pastika that an attack was expected, officials in Bali moved to dispel what appeared to be an expensive misunderstanding. On Thursday the US embassy sent an email to US citizens in Indonesia, following Mr Pastika’s comments that there was “an indication of an attack to the holiday island of Bali tonight”.

The warning was distributed by the Bali Tourism Board and it quickly spread on mobile phones.

Some clubs reported cancellations, while the police presence in Kuta, Legian, Seminyak and Oberoi was doubled.

Main roads were blocked off, including Jalan Legian in Kuta and the Oberoi Road, or “Eat Street”, the location of some of the island’s trendiest restaurants.
Ngurah Wijaya, the chairman of the non-government Bali Tourism Board, said: “I am confused about it (the warning), where the rumours came from.

“The warning was not on local TV, only CNN.”

Many tourists did not know of the warning so they still went out.

Others knew but still went out, avoiding high-risk areas.

Australian Stacey McAuliffe, 24, who was having a drink with friends at the VIP Club in Kuta, the former site of Paddy’s Bar which was bombed in 2005, said she had been nervous last night but it did not stop them going out.

The Hard Rock Cafe reported numbers down to about 350 people from the normal 500 on New Year’s Eve.

The cafe’s manager said one large group had cancelled a visit.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said yesterday it had no specific information about any imminent terrorist attack in Bali.

The Reuters news agency quoted the governor saying the warning had never been issued. The warning provoked widespread alarm, partly because of Mr Pastika’s credentials in the security sphere.

Before becoming the island’s governor he was Bali’s police chief, and investigated the 2002 bombings which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

The Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday incorporated Mr Pastika’s remarks into its travel advisory as a precaution.

The Weekend Australian understands his remarks were intended as a general warning about the elevated risk of terror attack during holiday seasons and large gatherings. The misunderstanding will concern Indonesia’s tourism officials, who have long complained about the travel advice issued by Australia about Bali.

Bali has been the site of two major terrorist attacks.

The first, in 2002, killed 202 people at the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar on October 12.

In October 2005 a series of coordinated attacks killed 23 people, including four Australians, and injured 150.

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Celebrating 5 Years of Saving Bali’s Turtles. Education and Conservation Are Top Priorities for Bali Turtle Conservation and Education Center

Bali’s negative reputation as a center for the slaughter and sale of turtles is slowly changing, due to a number of heroic efforts such as the establishment of the Bali Turtle Education and Conservation Center established on Serangan Island five years ago.

As reported by Radar Bali, the Bali Turtle Conservation and Education Center (BTCEC) has become a popular spot on many tourism itineraries in Bali. For US$5 tourists get a tour of the facility, obtain information on efforts to preserve and protect Indonesia’s turtle populations and receive a keepsake souvenir. Since its inauguration the BTCEC now has a wantilan for lectures and meetings, tanks for breeding and raising turtles, and separate tanks for the care of confiscated larger turtles destined for rehabilitation and return to the oceans.

Visitors to the BTCEC are allowed to view at least three different species of turtles.

One of the most important functions of the facility is the care and hatching of turtle eggs recovered from beaches around Bali that would have otherwise been ravaged by local villagers and animals.

Visitors to the BTCEC, both domestic and foreign, are invited to pay Rp. 50,000 (US$5) to adopt a turtle. In return contributors are taken to the nearby beach to release a baby turtle and given a small statute to commemorate the day. In the past 4 years more than 5,000 turtles have been released into the oceans from the BTCEC.

A classroom at the center is also used for lectures and films presented for visiting student groups wishing to learn more about the life cycle of turtles and the precarious nature of their future existence in the world’s oceans.

The center also is involved in a strictly controlled program in which a small number of turtles are provided for ritual sacrifice at Balinese religious ceremonies each year. The turtles, all under 20 centimeters in diameter, are provided to local temples at a cost of Rp. 500,000 per turtle (US$50) and only provided after written authorization is first received from local environmental and religious watchdog agencies.

The BTEC is supported by admission charges and public donations and is located on Serangan Island. by Bali Update (www.balidiscovery.com)

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