In Reply to: Bali Tourism ????????????????? posted by Valdek on Thursday, 19. August 1999 at 06:47 Bali Time:
Hi Valdek,
It would seem that 1997 - 1998 wasn't the best tourist season for Bali or Indonesia in general. What with smoke haze scares, overly exagerated reports of political unrest, Asian currency crisis etc, things were somewhat quieter than normal. probably was a good thing in some ways, as it gave the tourism industry in Bali an opportunity to look at itself and do a bit more future planning.... always difficult to do when things are going ahead full steam. Truth is, the last few years have probably been the best in some time to visit Bali. What with the declining Rp, hotel bargains and fewer tourists.... just like the old days!!
The statistics would seem to indicate that this is all over, however. Bali had 683,083 visitor arrivals for the 6 months to June '99, up 32.3% on the previous year!! I am currently having difficulty with accomodation for September (normally getting fairly quiet), so the numbers are definitely up.
Development is certainly everywhere, and things will no doubt have changed since your last visit, however there is still much variety and plenty of opportunities to enjoy the things that make Bali unique.
Enjoy your stay!
LOnnie