Thank you for your comments, concerns and cautionary advice.
Though, I must say that I have a few issues I would like to raise. I stay in Bali on average 3 months a year, some trips quite short and others for month or so. I do not stay in hotels and I do not really do the "tourist thing" as I have been there too many times now.
Over the past year or so there seems to be a noticeable difference in terms of the tourism trade in Bali. Whilst there has always been a large number of Australian, German and Dutch visitors , more recent times point to a much wider diverse and cultural group of travelers, e.g., from Japan, Italy, Eastern Europe, Britain, Russia, India etc. At one time such diversity didn't appear so evident, with a large majority of tourism coming from Australia. Given that Mr. Howard and his merry crew, assisted by the Australian media of course, are still constantly crying cautionary warnings for Indonesian travel, as well as the fact that many Australians seem unable to move forward and put the past to lie, has consequently altered the profile of Bali's tourism trade. Let’s just hope that political scare tactics become old news and the Australians return to Bali!! However, having said that, and on a more positive note, it seems that the attraction of a beautiful island like Bali is now appealing to a wider global market and hopefully will continue to grow.
We are all aware, and are deeply sorrowed by the devastating and tragic terrorist events that occurred in Bali. Sadly, this has resulted in much heartache and headache for the business community and, needless to say the beautiful Balinese people whom for many rely so much on the tourist trade for survival. But life goes on and we must move forward. It was pointed out to me in an earlier thread that business, especially building villas in Bali is difficult given the current economical and tourism climate, however, as Bert rightly said there are still many successful businesses out in Bali and sadly there are many still suffering.
I was given the following advice:
"If you did some research (given your wonderful insight into how things tick) into this site as well as many other expat Bali/Indo sites then you would understand that many expats as well as locals are pissed off with the idea."
This is rather a subjective comment given that the statement is supposedly made on behalf of the wider Expat community!!
Personally I know several Expats in Bali who are in the business of villa building/sales. Both operate on a small scale, building only a few properties at any one time. Both manage to sell their properties before completion by implementing clever global marketing strategies. Of course life is not always this easy, whether building or doing anything, for that matter, in a foreign country can become a headache with many unknown hurdles to face. There are still many success stories out there. Neither of these guys make big $$$, but are able to live comfortably in Bali by making enough money to pay their way. They have by no means hit on a “quick, get rich scheme” but it was not there intention anyway, nor mine alike.
I was rather disturbed to come to terms that there are some sad people out there who perceive people do things only to benefit themselves. Extract from a previous thread: “pat them on the head and then piss off without supporting them with long term arrangements”.
Ha Ha!! All I can say is that there are many wonderful people in this world who are prepared to give but expect nothing in return. I have made many friends in Bali, many being Indonesian. I expect nothing from them nor them from me, only our friendship. It has been my choice to have supported 2 Indonesian families by helping to fund new small business ventures to help support their families during hard times. They no more expected this of me than I ever expected any return from them.
There are many, many good people in this world. Thank goodness!!
