Tourism fails to ease poverty

RAJA AMPAT, Indonesia, 25 September 2017: A tableau of white sandy beaches, colourful coral reefs and turquoise water, the islands of Raja Ampat are set to be Indonesia’s next tourism hotspot — but locals fear the government is failing both them and the environment in its development push.

Stretching across 67,000 square kilometres in Indonesia’s far east, the picture-perfect islands might be as close to paradise as visitors can find.

“It’s amazing. We’ve been to millions of islands and I would say it’s the most beautiful one,” Canadian Angelika Redweik-Leung said at a lookout above the Pianemo island group. Read more

Bintan’s corporate ‘rojack package

BINTAN, 21 September 2017: Bintan Lagoon Resort has created a so-called ‘Rojak’ package that takes the hard work out of booking and organising an off shore event.

The Rojak package is named after the popular Southeast Asian salad, which is a mix of fresh fruits and vegetables tossed in a spicy sauce.

Just like its namesake, the BLR Corporate Rojak is designed to include  basic ingredients such as ferry tickets, deluxe accommodation, use of meeting room with technical accessories, lunch and even a stretching session during coffee break conducted by the resort’s recreational team. Read more

Bali raises volcano alert

DENPASAR, 21 September 2017: Bali’s governor has urged people to remain calm amid fears of a volcanic eruption on the holiday island, local newspapers reported on Wednesday,

Seismic activity at the Mount Agung, or Gunung Agung, volcano has significantly increased since Monday, leading authorities to raise the alert to level 4, and evacuate areas within 7.5 km of the volcano.

On Tuesday, Asian Trails, in an alert to its trade partners, reported Mount Agung was unleashing a series of smoke columns. Read more

Belhotel continues expansion in Indonesia

JAKARTA, 18 September 2017: Swiss-Belhotel International opened its latest property the three-star Swiss-Belhotel Airport Surabaya earlier this month.

The grand opening  was marked by a ribbon-cutting and inscription signing by the Regent of Sidoarjo, Bapak H. Saiful Ilah S.H, M.Hum, accompanied by Matthew Faull, Swiss-Belinn International executive director, and Emmanuel Guillard, senior vice president of operations and development at Swiss-Belhotel International and general manager Nungrudin Sukmawati.

The property is located just 2 km from Djuanda International Airport. Read more

Work stops play at Bali resorts

BALI, 14 September 2017: Urgent repairs and improvements are underway at two resorts on the popular tourist island; Seminyak Beach Resort and Spa and Keyana Seminkak.

At the Seminyak Beach Resort & Spa, work is underway to repair a damaged seafront retaining wall, stairs to the beach and a temple pavilion.

Damage was caused by exceptionally strong tidal waves, Asian Trails’ latest trade update stated. Read more

Dance to save Indonesian park

GAYO LUES, Indonesia, 15 August 2017: More than 10,000 people turned out in Indonesia’s Aceh at the weekend to stage a record-breaking song and dance performance stressing the need to conserve a threatened national park in the westernmost province.

The men, clad in elaborate black and yellow traditional costumes, sat in neat rows, clapping their hands on their shoulders and laps and moving in an increasingly fast-paced rhythm to a traditional song.

The saman, or “the dance of a thousand hands”, is one of the country’s most popular. In 2011 it was included in the UNESCO list of items of intangible cultural heritage. Read more

Quake shakes Sumatra

JAKARTA, 15 August 2017: A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit the Indonesian island Sumatra on Sunday, but there was no tsunami risk, seismologists said as panicked residents fled their homes.

The quake hit at a depth of 35 kilometres (22 miles) at 10:08 am (0308 GMT) 73 kilometres west of Bengkulu, according to the United States Geological Survey.

“The earthquake was quite strong and shallow, it was felt all the way to Padang, West Sumatra, but there was no threat of a tsunami,” Mochammad Riyadi, an official at Indonesia’s meteorology and geophysics agency told AFP. Read more

Lion Air clips a wing

JAKARTA, 4 August 2017: Two passenger planes collided at an airport in the Indonesian city of Medan on Thursday, an airline spokesman said, the latest incident to hit the country’s beleaguered aviation sector.

A Boeing aircraft operated by Lion Air was taxying along the runway after landing at Kualanamu airport on the island of Sumatra when it clipped the wing of a Wings Air craft waiting to depart for Meulaboh in Aceh province.

No one was injured in the incident and authorities are investigating the cause of the collision. Read more

Sanya rolls out roadshows, campaign

SANYA, CHINA, 3 August 2017: A tourism promotion for Sanya was held last week in Jakarta Indonesia to attract tours to the coastal tourism resort city in south China.

Organised by the municipal government of Sanya, China, the campaign included a roadshow and business networking with 150 travel industry experts who sell and market outbound travel from Indonesia.

Sanya’s government highlighted the strong growth in international arrivals, fuelled by the growing awareness of Sanya’s scenic spots. Read more

Expedia locks in Traveloka

JAKARTA, 2 August 2017: Expedia Inc has invested USD350 million Traveloka Holding Limited, a leading Southeast Asian online travel company.

The deal was concluded over the weekend with Expedia describing it as a “primary minority investment” in Traveloka to deepen cooperation on global hotel supply.

Over the course of Traveloka’s last two funding rounds, East Ventures, Hillhouse Capital Group, JD.com and Sequoia Capital also contributed funding, bringing the total investment amount to approximately USD500 million within the last year. Read more

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