2009

I'll be kicking around Alask in July, working on a forthcoming LPTV Roads Less Travelled program.

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Visit Lombok - Sumbawa 2012

Governor of West Nusa Tenggara, Muhammad Zainul Majdi, said that Visit Lombok - Sumbawa 2012 will be taken as the momentum to boost Lombok to become wa world class tourism destination in 2012. “Our will is to make Lombok a world class tourism destination by 2012″, he said when he launched Visit Lombok - Sumbawa 2012 in Jakarta.

Visit Lombok - Sumbawa 2012 will be officially declared by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono whicn will be accompanied with various supporting events such as planting pearl seeds and 5th International Ecotourism Business Forum which will bring 25 sellers from across the country to meet 20 buyers from 11 countries including UK, Germany, UAE, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, India, Hong Kong, France, Japan, and Indonesia.

Governor Majdi said that as a province rich of marine resources and beautiful beaches, the leading products which will be offered is eco-tourism including pearl farming and marine adventures in addition to culture, art, and traditional handicraft such as pottery and hand woven fabrics. “We have 15 point of interests both on the beach and the hillside”, he added.

Furthermore he expressed his confidence that Visit Lombok - Sumbawa program can generate more foreign and domestic tourists and increase popularity of the two inslands as preferable holiday destinations. “The impact we expect is getting Lombok a well known destination after Bali. In another way, after Bali, Lombok there will be Lombok which is ready to welcome tourist visits”, he said.

As a holiday destination Lombok has all people may want, scattering from the soaring mountain into deep at the bottom of the sea. Lombok is very well prepared to welcome tourists. The govenrment keeps in pushing their efforts to increase service quality as well as facilities. Various accommodation facilities are avalable, from homestay to five star hotels, event Lombok villas. International airport is underway and will be ready for inauguration soon.

The Director General of Tourism Marketing, Sapta Nirwandar, said that pearl farming will become the icon of Lombok tourism. Therfore systematic promotion is needed, started by Visit Lombok - Sumbawa 2012. “In the future Lombok will become the center for production and sales of the finest pearls in the world, it will beat Japan and Spain”, he said. At the end the program is expected to bring more tourist in. Statistic recorded visits of 450,000 tourists in 2008, and the government targets 530,000 in 2009.

President Opened the 31st Bali Arts Festival

Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, opened the 31st annual Bali Arts Festival on Saturday evening, June 13th 2009, by sounding “kulkul”, Balinese traditional way to call people for gathering, which then immediately followed by performance of colossal dance-drama titled “Bima Swarga”.

Like Bali Arts Festival (PKB) of previous years, the event was started by a parade involving all participants including delegates from every regencies and cities of Bali as well as those from other Indonesian provinces and other countries.

In his speech President Yudhoyono said that art and culture are part of nation's identity, and PKB which has been held for the 31st time expressed Balinese will to sustain it and therefore deserved appreciation. “Honelstly, from one year to another, we have been witnessing various attraction here which have always impressed me. I am impressed by the magnitude of Balinese cultural arts including continuously improved creativity. Every year I saw different scene, different creativity, and different moral and spiritual messages. It is absolutely impressive and well worth to be proud of”, he said.

President Yudhoyono further expected PKB to play its role to strengthen Bali's position as a center of tourism, center of culture, center of creativity, and bridge among different community across the globe. He underlined the fact that Bali was not only the pride of Balinese alone but also Indonesian. Bali was also adored by the whole world. Being the center of tourism activity attracting interest from the whole world, President Yudhoyono admitted that he had a significant hope on Bali to continue serving the leader and the center of tourism and creative economy, including the economy of Indonesian cultural products.

President Yudhoyono expressed is enthusiasim with the title of PKB this year “mulat sarire” which lierally meant return to identity for the glory of the nation and country. He believed that the theme held strong relevancy down to the root whilst expressed wide perspective related to values, cultural heritages, and nation's humanity.? Through the theme he expected to bring up views from two different perspective related to Indonesian national identity.

The first perspective related to official vision towards national identity. Indonesia had an identity as a nation with four basic consensuses to be fully implemented in daily life namely national ideology, constitution, natonal unity, and the concept of unity in diversity. Second perspective was history leading the nation into the way it appeared at the present time including heritages, ways of life, religions, culture, and a lot more, reflecting vast diversity requiring thorough understanding and acceptance.