Bali News

Bali has had the negative impact of the suicidal bomb blast in Jakarta only one day after the incident. The cruise ship Sun Pricess which with 2,000 passengers cancelled its schedule to stop in Bali. Previously the ship affiliated to Princess Cruise of Miami, USA, was scheduled to land at Padang Bai harbor on Thursday, July 23rd.

Confirmation of the cancellation was received by the President Director of PT Suar Tour, Jro Gede Karang Tangkid Suarshana, through an email yesterday morning. The cancellation email was sent by Senior Fleet Security Inspector of Princess Cruises, Richard Revadeneira, with a copies sent to PT PELNI Bali and other related parties.

“We honestly very regret about this situation. The initiative which we have started since about six years ago was blown away in minutes as a result of bomb blast in Jakarta”, Suarshana said in sadnes expression. His regret was definitely understandable as everything has been carefully prepared including a tour package for 500 passengers to Kintamani, Besakih, and Ubud.

Effort to convince cruise operator to stop in Bali has been a though excercise. As their trust obtained indicated by the schedule of ship arrival, now negotiation process has to be started from the scratch. Suarshana is not the only one affected by the cancellation, but also operator of tourism attractions, art shops, end so forth. Estimated potential lost went up to about 1 billion rupiah.

Cancellation of Sun Princess arrival at Padang Bai has also affected local residents of Karangasem. Preparation of welcoming ceremony which involved the Regent of Karangasem himself along with a number of tour and travel companies was closing to 90%. Local leader of Padang Bai, Kadek Aris Suyasa expressed his regret about the terrorist attack in Jakarta which also blew all of their hard work away.

Ida Bagus Megarupa, Assistant Director of TMS Tour, a tour and travel company focusing in oriental market admitted that his company are receiving a lot of questions from wholesalers in China and Taiwan. “Our business partners asked us about current situation in Bali including potential threat of terror attack after the incident in Jakarta including anticipative efforts”, he said.

Deputy Secretary of Indonesian Association of Hotels and Restaurants (PHRI) – Bali Chapter, Ni Made Eka Mahadewi iformed that there have been no report of early check out since the association sent out letter to all hotels and restaurants in Bali. However there are a few groups cancelled their visit to Bali next week as reported by St. Regis and a five star hotel in Nusa Dua. Unfortunately Mahadewi was not sure whether the cancellation related to bomb or swine flu.

So far situation in tourist centers in Bali such as Kuta, Nusa Dua, Jimbaran, Legian, and Seminyak remains normal. Foreign tourists randomly interviewed said that they were not worried about bomb. Meanwhile high level security allert was implemented at Ritz Carlton Resort in Jimbaran. Tens of security guards including bomb squad, mobil brigade, anti-terror detachment, hotel security guards, and other components were involved. Screening at the entrance gate involved detectors as well as K9.