Bali Studies

World's best, but we're not there

http://www.smh.com.au/news/indonesia/worlds-best-but-were-not-there/2006/09/14/1157827091744.html

September 17, 2006

How Bali has changed. Frequent visitor John Borthwick argues it's time to check it out.

IT WAS little surprise that Bali's tourism authorities were delighted last month when the US edition of Travel + Leisure magazine named Bali "World's Best Island" for the fifth time. The same survey - of 23,000 respondents - also rated it "Asia's Best Island" for the seventh time.

But for many Australians, Bali remains a no-go zone. While other nationalities are slowly returning, on a recent trip I noticed that Australians, traditionally the second highest after the Japanese, are still much fewer than before.

In July, 12,521 Australians arrived - 57 per cent down from the record high one year before. West Australians, however, for whom Bali is very easily accessible, remain largely unperturbed about travelling there. Responding to the demand, Garuda Indonesia has added two extra weekly flights to complement its daily departures from Perth.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade still warns Australians of travel risks to Indonesia, including Bali.

But among thousands of Australians who disregarded this advice and visited Bali was federal Health Minister Tony Abbott. In a later newspaper column headed The Moral Imperative Of Tourists, he wrote that tourism is economically beneficial to the stability of Indonesia and thus to Australia's own regional self-interest.

He concluded: "Taking a holiday in Indonesia is riskier than going to the Gold Coast but ultimately may be quite a patriotic thing to do."

Entrepreneur Harry M. Miller is also on Bali's side. "I just had the best time - it was absolutely fantastic," he said on his recent return from his first trip to Bali.

"This wonderful place and wonderful people do not deserve the negative treatment they so often get in the mainstream Australian media, which is often unfair and stupid," he added.

In the wake of the Bali bombings of October 2002 and October 2005, plus the trials of Australian drug smugglers, positive media coverage of Bali has been rare. With more than 40 per cent of the island's 3.1 million people dependent on tourism, the subsequent downturn in visitor arrivals has affected the entire island.

How has Bali changed since the bombings? While Kuta is again a mosh pit for shopping, formerly snoozy Seminyak, about two kilometres up the beach, has leapt ahead as an entertainment and accommodation zone. The post-bomb logic in 2003 was that low-key Seminyak might be less of a target for further attacks by Islamists.

posted by andersonite @ 4:42 AM