Negative Bali coverage branded "sensationalist"

Negative Bali coverage branded "sensationalist"
By admin


Indonesia’s ministry of tourism has addressed a recent spate of negative publicity for holiday hotspot Bali, insisting tourists can be badly behaved all over the world.

The comments follow the recent airing of Channel 7’s What Really Happens in Bali which showed Aussie tourists indulging in raucous behavior while on holiday in the destination. The “observational documentary series” was accompanied by advertisements saying: “This is a place where anything can happen at any second – fights, drunken falls, STD's”.

Visit Indonesia branded the recent coverage as “sensationalist”.

Speaking at a recent Australian trade mission, deputy director of international promotion Vincent Jemadu tackled the issue, saying: “The events being publicised in Bali are not just happening in Bali, these things happen all over the world.”

He insisted that Bali remains one of Australia’s favourite holiday destinations, with 938,000 Aussies visitors last year, and thanked the Australian trade for its support. Australia is the third most significant international market for Indonesia after Singapore and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Visit Indonesia country manager Alison Roberts-Brown revealed a growing trend for Australians to travel slightly further afield to discover some of Indonesia’s other attractions.

“Whilst Australian’s continue to love Bali, we are seeing increasing numbers of Australians venturing to the beautiful Island of Lombok as well as the magical world heritage temple sites of Borobudur in central Java and beyond,” she said.

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