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photo by: Ni Komang Erviani

Ni Komang Erviani and Luh De Suriyani, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Fri, 12/09/2011 8:33 AM

The Bali administration will next year add a new route to the Trans Sarbagita public bus service, which is the province’s only public inter-city transportation system.

Launched to ease the island’s severe traffic congestion, the bus network will be expanded next year with a new route connecting downtown Denpasar with Udayana University and GWK (Garuda Wisnu Kencana) Cultural Park in Jimbaran.

“We are still waiting for 10 buses from the central government. Once all of those buses are here we will immediately begin operating the new route,” provincial transportation agency head Made Santha said on Thursday, adding that smaller buses would be used for the new route to adapt to the narrower and more congested roads in the downtown area.

Each of the air-conditioned buses can accommodate 25 seated and 15 standing passengers. The 15 buses that are currently serving the Trans Sarbagita first route, connecting Batubulan terminal in Gianyar with Kuta and Nusa Dua, can accommodate 36 seated and 20 standing passengers each.

“There will be no differences in ticket prices and operational hours,” Santha added.

The ticket price for the Trans Sarbagita service is Rp 3,500 (39 US cents) for regular passengers and Rp 2,500 for students. Operational hours are 5 a.m. until 9 p.m.

“Hopefully, the new route will be able to act as an alternative mode of transportation for Denpasar residents. The general public has been waiting for the opening of this downtown route,” he said.

One resident, Ni Putu Ayu Erni, said that she was just one of many people eagerly awaiting the start of the new service.

“It will save me the hassle of riding a motorbike or driving a car,” she said.

As an employee of the Nusa Dua-based Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC), she said that she had been a regular user of the Trans Sarbagita service since its official launch on Aug. 18.

The public bus service has gradually won its place in the hearts of Balinese. Trans Sarbagita executive Krisbiyanto disclosed that the existing Batubulan-Nusa Dua service moved around 1,400 passengers
per week.

“Half of them are regular passengers who use the service on a daily basis to reach their workplaces,” he said, adding that foreign visitors had also begun to use the service.

The provincial administration disclosed that the final form of Trans Sarbagita would comprise 17 routes connecting strategic points in Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan.

Another Trans Sarbagita executive, Arsana Laga, stated that the existing route should increase its load to improve the route’s contribution to easing traffic congestion.

“The load factor, or passenger rate, is still at 22 percent. We have set a target of 30 percent for 2012,” he said.

Ni Komang Erviani ,  The Jakarta Post |  Wed, 07/29/2009 1:00 PM  |  Bali

The Jakarta hotel bombings will not cripple Bali’s all-important tourism industry, say event organizers on the resort island.

Society of Indonesia Professional Convention Organizers chairman Putu Juarez R. Putra said Tuesday the industry’s optimism was based on the fact the island will still host several major international events this year.

“Organizers of international conferences that will be attended by large numbers of delegates are still looking at Bali as the host venue,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »

ANTISIPASI TERORISME - Seorang petugas kepolisian tengah memeriksa tas milik seorang wisatawan asal Australia yang tengah melintas dengan kendaraannya di kawasan wisata Sanur. Aparat kepolisian memperketat pengamanan kawasan wisata di Bali untuk mengantisipasi aksi terorisme. Di tengah ancaman teror, Bali menerima penghargaan sebagai The Best Island in The World 2009 dari Majalah Pariwisata Travel and Leisure (Ni Komang Erviani)

oleh: Ni Komang Erviani

Di tengah kekhawatiran terhadap dampak ledakan bom di Hotel JW Marriott dan Ritz Carlton Jakarta, stakeholder pariwisata Bali dikejutkan dengan penobatan Bali sebagai The Best Island in The World 2009 oleh Majalah Pariwisata Travel and Leisure. “Kami mendapat informasi ini tadi pagi. Tentu saja penobatan ini membuat bangga dan semakin optimis dengan perkembangan pariwisata Bali,” jelas Ketua Bali Tourism Board Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya ketika ditemui di kantornya Selasa (21/7). Read the rest of this entry »

Ni Komang Erviani

Guna mengantisipasi serangan bom seperti yang terjadi di Jakarta Jumat
(17/7), Pemerintah Kabupaten Badung berencana memasang puluhan CCTV
(closed circuit television) di kawasan wisata Kuta. “Kami akan segera
memasang sebanyak 35 CCTV di kawasan Kuta. Proses pemasangannya
dimotori oleh Mabes Polri,” jelas Bupati Badung Anak Agung Gde Agung
usai menghikuti Rapat Koordinasi Pengamanan di Mapoltabes Denpasar
Sabtu (18/7).

Selain kawasan wisata Kuta, pemasangan CCTV juga akan dilakukan di
kawasan Kuta Selatan sebanyak 23 unit dan Kuta Utara sebanyak 3 unit.
“Langkah pengamanan sudah kami lakukan secara berkesinambungan. Tapi
pengamanannya tentu akan kami tingkatkan dengan peristiwa bom di
Jakarta,” tegasnya pria berkumis itu.

Ni Komang Erviani

Peledakan bom di hotel JW Marriott dan Ritz Carlton Jakarta pada Jumat
(17/7) belum berpengaruh pada tingkat hunian hotel di Bali. Hingga
Sabtu (18/7), tingkat hunian hotel masih tetap tinggi. “Tingkat hunian
hotel masih berada di kisaran 70-80 persen. Belum ada cancellation
seperti yang dikhawatirkan,” jelas Ketua Bali Tourism Board Ida Bagus
Ngurah Wijaya ditemui di kantornya Sabtu (18/7).

Menurut Ngurah Wijaya, terror bom di Jakarta tidak membuat wisatawan
ketakutan berlibur di Bali. Travel warning dari Australia juga
dikatakan tidak mempengaruhi minat wisatawan asal negara kangguru itu
tetap ke Bali. “Sejak dulu Australia mengeluarkan travel warning ke
Indonesia. Tapi ternyata masyarakatnya tetap berwisata ke Bali,” jelas
pria pemilik usaha hotel di kawasan Sanur itu.

Ngurah Wijaya berharap pemerintah bertindak cepat agar tidak terjadi
lagi terror bom seperti yang terjadi di Jakarta. “Untuk pengamanan
kami serahkan sepenuhnya pada yang berwajib. Kami harap ada langkah
tegas agar aksi-aksi terorisme seperti ini tidak terjadi lagi,”
tandasnya.

Ni Komang Erviani ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar   |  Sat, 07/18/2009 2:27 PM  |  National

Tourism in Bali has been unaffected by Friday’s deadly suicide bombings on two luxury hotels in Jakarta, officials have said.

“The hotel occupancy rate remains at between 70 and 80 percent. There is yet to be a negative reaction,”  head of the Bali Tourism Agency Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Wijaya added the agency has yet to see any decline in visitors coming from Australia, even though the country has issued a travel warning following the blast, which are believed to have killed three Australians.

Wijaya said that tourism businesses were expecting the government would take firm action to prevent similar attacks in the future.

Ni Komang Erviani

Sebanyak 84 wisatawan terseret arus di pantai-pantai bagian selatan Bali selama masa liburan sekolah lalu. Satu orang diantaranya meninggal dunia, yakni seorang wisatawan domestik asal Jawa pada 26 Juni di Pantai Oberoi. Demikian catatan Badan Penyelamat Wisata Tirta (Balawista) Kabupaten Badung selama masa libur pertengahan Juni sampai akhir pekan lalu.

Menurut Pengawas Staf Balawista Badung Ketut Sandi, kasus wisatawan terseret arus paling banyak terjadi di kawasan Pantai Kuta. Sisanya terjadi di kawasan Nusa Dua, Seminyak dan Legian. “Kejadian terseret arus paling banyak tentu saja di Pantai Kuta karena pengunjung Pantai Kuta paling banyak,” jelas Sandi. Read the rest of this entry »

The Jakarta Post, Fri, 07/17/2009 1:47 PM  |  Bali

DENPASAR: Over the recent school holidays, 84 visitors were caught in currents in the South Bali sea, one of them dying as a result.

The records of the Balawista, a Badung based team of life guards, stated that many of the victims swam off Oberoi, Kuta, Nusa Dua, Seminyak and Legian beaches.

Ketut Sandi from Balawista said many of the swimmers were stranded by the strong currents, but all but one, a domestic visitor who was drowned at Oberoi beach, could be saved. -JP

Ni Komang Erviani ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Contributor   |  Tue, 02/03/2009 3:40 PM  |  Bali

The island’s tourism slogan, “Shanti Shanti Shanti”, is confusing to residents and tourists despite being introduced one-and-a-half years ago, a personal survey conducted by local writer Ande Putu Setiawan says.

The study, conducted for Putu’s new book, surveyed 300 respondents consisting equally of foreign and domestic tourists and local residents of Kuta, Badung. Read the rest of this entry »