0 Pemuteran to celebrate a somber New Year

The beachside resort of Pemuteran in west Buleleng will celebrate the New Year in a much more somber tone than its counterparts in south Bali, such as Kuta and Nusa Dua, as occupancy rates hover at a disappointing rate of 50 percent. The lower-than-expected occupancy rates were attributed to the decline in the number of visitors from Europe, a continent currently suffering from wide-scale economic crisis. Pemuteran, a three-hour drive northwest of Denpasar, has a magnificent beach, beautiful underwater landscapes and is shaded by a line of hills. 

Resorts, cottages, villas and locally operated guesthouses have sprouted along its shoreline as the area has grown into a favored escape for visitors frustrated by the noisy, traffic jam-haunted destinations in the south. Pemuteran’s biggest clientele is European tourists. The room rates in this area range from Rp 100,000 (US$10.40) to more than Rp 1 million per night. “In the last few years we have enjoyed a high occupancy rate. The average occupancy rate in our hotel, as well as other hotels in Pemuteran, is 80 percent throughout the year,” Taman Sari Bali Cottage resident manager Ni Putu Widayati said. 

“The average length of stay is seven days and a large number of guests stay for more than one week.” Christmas and New Year’s, she disclosed, used to be the busiest period for Pemuteran, with hotels often fully booked and having to turn away guests. “This year, however, things are very different. Throughout December, our occupancy rate has hovered at 50 percent. I called other hotels and they experienced the same thing. In the previous years, occupancy rates usually declined in the first weeks of December before rising close to Christmas and hitting 100 percent until mid-January,” she recalled. 

Widayati disclosed that she spoke with several guests, who later informed her about the ongoing economic downturn in Europe. “Yesterday I chatted with a British family that is staying here and they said they were quite satisfied with the level of service and facilities offered here. They said the services and facilities had nothing to do with the decline in occupancy rates and told me that many people in Europe now cancelled their vacations and were saving their money to deal with the uncertainties brought about by the economic crisis.” French, Dutch and German tourists were the hotel’s main clients. 

“Hopefully, this condition will not last long,” she said, adding that the hotel would launch promotional programs, including dismissing its surcharge policy, to entice more guests. Bali Tourism Agency head Ida Bagus Kade Subhiksu confirmed that despite the overall increase in the number of foreign tourist arrivals, the number of tourists from France had decreased. “The number of foreign tourists visiting Bali from January-October reached 2,380,990, an increase of 3.87 percent compared to a similar period in 2011.” 

However, the number of French tourists dropped 5.67 percent from 97,969 in 2011 to 92,414 in 2012. Passenger data released by Ngurah Rai airport showed a decline in the number of foreign tourists arriving through the airport. On Dec. 22, the airport recorded 10,331 people arriving on the island through the airport’s international arrival hall. That number is smaller by 12 percent than that recorded on a similar date last year. The decline continued until Dec. 25. “However, the numbers increased again on Dec. 26 and 27,” airport public relations officer Sherly Yunita said.

source : bali daily