Bali News | Bali Travel News

AN Australian pearl farmer caught with hashish outside a Bali bar admitted to using the drug, Indonesian police say.

Jason Scott McIntyre, 33, was arrested outside a bar in Kuta in the early hours of April 20, allegedly carrying about five grams of hashish.

In Denpasar District Court today, Mr McIntyre was formally charged with drug possession, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ jail, and drug use, which carries a maximum penalty of four years’ jail.

Arresting officer Cokorda Alit said he found Mr McIntyre stumbling down the street talking gibberish.

“He said he got the drugs for free from a woman,” Alit told the court.

“He admitted that he was using it and his urine tested positive.”

Mr McIntyre will face court again on Thursday.

Mr McIntyre is from Western Australia but has been living most recently in Humpty Doo, in the Northern Territory.

Karma Goes Social

Karma Resorts has become the first Bali brand to move into social media marketing, joining the global travel industry trend towards new media.

The Karma Group’s Creative Director, Clinton Albuquerque states,”Traditional marketing and PR weren’t providing the immediacy and
specific target marketing that we required. We wanted to engage our audience on a regular basis and increase our brand awareness through the latest online channels.”

Social media marketing has become recognized as a key driver of brand affinity and brand awareness in the travel industry. Through
increasingly popular channels such as TripAdvisor, companies are finding that they can make a personal connection with someone who has expressed an interest in their brand. These connections are two-way dialogues rather than a one-way marketing push. Mr. Albuquerque adds,”social media is a breakthrough marketing channel. We can now listen and interact with people, not just broadcast to them. It allows us to tailor our content to match their individual interests. Moreover, the feedback we obtain from these conversations helps us make our product better and more responsive to our target markets.”

Many industry insiders believe that social media is the future for the travel industry. Ric Shreves of water&stone notes, “the travel
industry, more than any other I know of, benefits from word of mouth and viral marketing. Travellers trust what other travellers tell them,
and photo and video sharing sites tap right into human nature, where seeing is believing.”

Karma Resorts is expanding rapidly. The Group currently operates two oceanfront luxury resorts on Bali’s dramatic southern peninsula and another in Koh Samui, Thailand, all of them earning industry accolades, including membership of the Leading Small Hotels of the World. Development is now underway on two new luxury villa resorts. Karma Margaret River celebrates the idyllic charms of this famous winemaking region in Western Australia, while Karma Agung, named after the sacred volcano that rears skyward behind it, spills down a hillside on Bali’s magical eastern coast. Exquisite new luxury villa resorts will soon unfold in Palawan (Philippines), Langkawi (Malaysia), Lombok (Indonesia), Fiji, Goa & Kerala (India) and Mykonos (Greece), putting Karma Resorts at the vanguard of 21st century global luxury living.

By creating a custom social media marketing campaign, the Group hopes to continue to engage their target markets and keep them more in tune with the rapid changes that happening within the resorts. To manage and execute their social media marketing efforts, Karma Resorts retained water&stone and ClearWhiteSpace. It was water&stone and ClearWhiteSpace who launched Bali’s first social media marketing services in May of this year. Clinton adds “The team at water&stone and ClearWhiteSpace have the technical expertise and the market experience to interpret and deliver our message in a fashion we trust. We also liked the idea that they are a local firm with whom we can work to tailor our social media marketing campaign and be proactive in
reaching our target audience.”

Heads will roll if Bali agents, guides don’t conform

DENPASAR – Tourism authorities continue to search for ways to crackdown on cheap and not-so-cheerful tours for Chinese travellers.

Tourism New Zealand announced last week that it would “mystery shop” these tours to ensure Chinese visitors to New Zealand were getting what they paid for in terms of accommodation, transport and tours.

Now Bali Update (www.balidiscovery.com) - quoting local sources - reports that the China National Tourism Authority (CNTA) has called on Indonesia to stop the practice of “selling heads” among Chinese tourists visiting the country.

“Selling Heads” is the practice in which the right to guide visiting Chinese tourists is purchased by travel agents and guides who then recoup their investment through often exorbitant commissions received from restaurants and shops.

Eddy Sunyoto, the chairman for promotion and marketing for the Indonesia Association of Travel Agents (ASITA), told the media that the CNTA has called on law enforcement officials and the government of Indonesia to end the practice seen as detrimental to the interests and the overall holiday experience of Chinese holidaymakers.

The government of China recently passed a consumer protection law.

Part of that legislation seeks to curb the practice of “head selling” that sees Chinese tourists “pushed” to undertake numerous activities, such as shopping, spas, rafting and other transactions forced upon them by avaricious guides.

Sunyoto admitted that a number of registered travel agents are actively engaged in “selling heads” when serving Chinese travelers.

Meanwhile, the chief of tourism for the province of Bali, Kade Subhisku, threatened that he will show “no mercy” for companies engaging in “selling heads.”

Subhisku has held meetings with the Indonesian Guide Association (HPI) and ASITA to curb the practices of illegal guides.

Bali booze drought threatens tourism

TOURISTS in Bali may find it harder to find a stiff drink after authorities confiscated thousands of bottles of liquor from some of the holiday island’s top hotels, restaurants and bars.

Customs officials have seized the booze, from high-end establishments in popular tourist areas like Kuta and Nusa Dua, because the bottles allegedly have counterfeit tax labels.

The tourism industry fears the seizures will lead to an alcohol shortage which may deter tourists from visiting Bali in what is traditionally the high season.

“We’ve asked for this confiscation process to be temporarily suspended because we are running out of stocks,” said Perry Markus, head of the Bali branch of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association.

Ida Bagus Subhiksu, head of the Bali Tourism Board, believes the raids could damage Bali’s international reputation.

“We asked the customs office to stop the process and if they have to do something, please continue it later on, after the high season,” Mr Subhiksu said.

The raids come after at least 26 people, including four foreign tourists, were killed in Bali and nearby Lombok by drinking local rice wine - known as arak - tainted with methanol.

Arak has become increasingly popular in Bali since a government crackdown on imported alcohol forced up the price of spirits and wine.