Bali access for Kiwis – what a difference two weeks makes
(October 2008)

The Little Bali Hotel & Resort Company has roundly applauded Jetstar Airways’ decision to further expand its New Zealand operation next year with increased trans-Tasman services saying the decision will potentially having a marked effect on the ever-growing number of Kiwis holidaying in Bali.

LBHRC sales & marketing manager Paul Cutler said it was ironic that just a few weeks ago the company was calling on Garuda Indonesia to reinstate its AKL services to Bali – via Brisbane.

This followed the Indonesian national carrier’s recent announcement it would recommence its services from the Queensland state capital in December.

The GA move followed Pacific Blue statement just days earlier that it would commence a thrice weekly BNE-DPS service – also in December - which at that time prompted LBHRC to call on the Indonesian airline to strongly consider rethinking a case for the resumption of an AKL-BNE-DPS service.

“But why wait for GA to do something now we've got Jetstar taking the initiative,” Cutler said.

“Short of direct AKL-DPS services, the Jetstar move means a really big leg for Bali’s business ex-New Zealand.

“Kiwis will now have far easier, quicker and much cheaper option to reach the destination rather than going the long way around via Singapore and Kuala Lumpur - or even Hong Kong.

“Its amazing what a difference a couple of weeks can make.”

“Just three weeks ago we were applauding Pacific Blue’s decision to commence direct services thrice weekly BNE-DPS services which saw a prompt reinstatement of GA services ex-Brisbane.

“It will be very interesting to see if GA now decides to do something similar in this market following the Jetstar decision – after all, market share is going begging,” he said.

LBHRC is hoping the renewed confidence in Bali on the other side of the Tasman, where Australian business increased by more than 70 per cent in 2007, will have also have an effect on the current New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade travel advisory for the destination.

Cutler said it was paradoxical that while the current advisory had stood in place for several years, the destination was now starting to re-attract a steady stream of New Zealanders with an almost 18 per cent increase in Kiwi arrivals recorded for the first six months of the year.

“New Zealand’s travel industry is responding well to the increased demand for Bali and as a result we’re bracing for an even better year from this market in 2009,” he said.

Jetstar will further expand into New Zealand next year with the announcement of daily flights to Auckland from Sydney and the Gold Coast starting on April 29.

Jetstar already flies into Christchurch from Brisbane, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Sydney.

The airline’s current Australia-Bali operation includes four weekly services ex-Sydney,   two ex-Melbourne and three ex-Brisbane via Darwin.

Visit the LBHRC website at www.thelittlebalihotelresortcompany.com.

A version of the original ‘Where the Bali hell are you’ video clip can still be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkH2DzSEiFM.

*Figures released by the Indonesian government indicate New Zealand visitor arrivals to Bali for the period January to July 2008 totalled 9099 compared to the 7715 total recorded for the same period in 2007, an increase of 17.9 per cent.