In Reply to: Low income people going to Bali1 posted by Hillary on Sunday, 2. January 2011 at 08:46 Bali Time:
Hi Hillary, I have no problem at all with air fares being so reasonable to Bali. But it is not just Aussies who are enjoying being able to fly to Bali, it is people from all over the globe.
With the post earlier concerning Bali losing its gloss, I am inclined to agree to a point, however rather than gloss, I would say it is charm.
With the absolute wealth of tourists, rich and poor, the Indonesians are prospering. And good on them. They deserve it, they share their beautiful island with millions of tourists each year. I wouldn't want it in my beachside suburb of Sydney. But they do. They are thriving on it. They accept all takers.
But what I see is happenning is that the Balinese are catering to everyone, and the island is getting packed. Roads are jammed. Restaurants are totally westernised and homogenised(and packed), your hotel rooms bombarded by noise from local "nightlife"..
So what do you do. Go in to quieter areas to get away from it, then bang... a new hotel, bar etc pops up. Why? Because the dollar is there.
Selfishly, I would like to see the air fares go right back up, sorry, not because I want ordinary Aussies (or people from around the globe)to stay away, but because (as someone else said) I'd like my old friend back.