Saturday, December 22, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
A sip of Bali wines
Bali wines are made by people who believe they can start a new wine trend, in a land where holly books rule.
Bali wines are beginning to gain the respect they deserve, as evidenced by the wine poetry by St. Regis Bali Resort’s Sommelier, Harald Wiesmann.
But to truly love them, you have to know them better.
Hatten Wines
Hatten Wines is a local wine pioneer. Starting the trend with the launch of its Rosé in 1994, Hatten — with its Aga Red, Aga White and Alexandria as well as Tunjung and Jepun sparkling wine —are now known internationally. In Bali, it is present at every turn, from luxury resorts to small restaurants.
“Hatten is a Japanese word meaning progress. So we’re always progressing, always improving and never satisfied,” explains Franklin, the director of sales and marketing at Hatten Wines.
The wines have won several medals. Alexandria, for example, received a bronze medal in 2003 from the International Wine & Spirit Competition in the UK, as well as a silver medal from the Wine Style Asia Award in 2011.
Tunjung Brut Sparkling, the regions only locally produced sparkling wine, is made from Bali’s best kept secret — a grape variety called Probolinggo Biru — which is only grown at Hatten’s vineyard.
This wine received the honor of recommended sparkling in 2012, awarded, again, by the International Wine & Spirit Competition.
Currently, Hatten’s owner, IB Rai Budarsa, decided to concentrate supply to the local market, despite once exporting to Holland, Maldives, UK and Singapore until the time when Bali was hit by the bombing.
“Around 90 percent of our market is from the tourism industry. I hope in the future Hatten can become Indonesia’s identity so people come to Indonesia to drink Hatten. It can be recommended or bought as a souvenir,”
said IB Rai Budarsa.
Not only having wines made from locally grown grapes, Hatten also has offers options for wine lovers, who are missing conventional wine flavors through the brand Two Islands. The varieties available for Two Islands are Shiraz, Carbenet Merlot, Chardonnay and Riesling.
Artisan Estate
Before Craig and Noela Newton took over, the Artisan Estate was known as Wines of the Gods. Since 2009 the couple has brought a new kind of experience to drinking wine — serving the soul of Australian grapes in each of wine bottle.
“The challenge starts with the fruit selection and getting each variety from the region where it grows best and of course — getting the fruit at the best possible price. That is why our Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc come from Pemberton Western Australia — a cool climate area that produces fantastic wines. The Shiraz grapes come from the Swan Valley and we are developing another red variety from the Margaret River region,” Artisan Estate wine marketing specialist Craig Newton explains.
The complicated process of delivering the fresh juice to Bali takes about three weeks; usually the juice is first shipped from Australia to Singapore, then onto Surabaya before finally reaching Bali. Newton is in charge in the process from the day the grape is harvested in Australia until it is bottled.
Artisan means craftsman and at the moment they have several wine collections. Classic and Chardonnay were the first arrivals both are white wines that sell well in Bali.
They were later followed by Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc. These whites are known as a favorite drink on the island as they are fresh and are best suited for a sunset drink. Their Classic, claims Craig, is best paired with Asian foods.
Cape Discovery
Looking at the label, one will not recognize that Cape Discovery is a locally made wine. This brand, famous for its Sauvignon Blanc and Rosé, was released at the beginning of 2012 in response to the classic problems when purchasing wine in Indonesia — price and quality.
Their winery is located in Singaraja and is equipped with German carbon dioxide sensors that allow fermentation to be controlled perfectly. They choose the location in Singaraja so that the wine would not be suffer as a result of inconsistent transport and storage practices.
The international quality of the Sauvignon Blanc has gained a lot of compliments and has especially won the hearts of wine experts, including St. Regis’ Wiesmann and Erick Hardiansyah of the Nikko Bali Resort and Spa.
In response to wine demand in Indonesia, especially Jakarta and Bali, Cape Discovery will launch further collections such as a Sparkling Chardonnay, Sparkling Rose, Moscato, Red blend and White blend. They source the grapes from Margaret River in Western Australia.
Sababay Wine
Sababay borrows its name from the winery’s location, Saba, a village in Blahbatu, Gianyar regency, is famous for its Saba Beach. The winery overlooks the Saba Bay.
It offers two wine collections - Black Velvet; a red wine, and Pink Blossom; a rosé - both are made from the Alphonse Lavallêe grape that is grown in North Bali.
Sababay sources grapes from farmers in Buleleng, below the Asteroid R & D Vineyard, who have formed a partnership with Sababay to exclusively trade grapes for a fair price. According to Donald Manoch, director of sales and marketing at Sababay Wine, before joining the partnership farmers could only earn Rp 1 million (US$104.41) annually, selling their grapes at a price as low as Rp 500 per kilogram.
Through the partnership, the price of one kilogram of grapes has risen to Rp 4,000 per kilogram; farmers can now earn decent money for a living.
In addition, through the partnership, Asteroid R&D Vineyard also give interest free loans that are payable after the harvest, which support innovation in agricultural technology so that the best quality of grapes can be produced.
Consequently, they ensure quality seeds, develop new varieties and also empower the farmers’ wives who help with the harvest and are paid by Asteroid Vineyard.
The result — a high quality black grape — that later, by the hand of the winemaker, Vincent Desplat, turns into beautiful wine.
Desplat is a French winemaker with a degree in oenology (the science and study of all aspects of wine and winemaking), who trained at Chateau Clarke in Medoc, Bordeaux, in Minervois and graduated from the prestigious school of Agronomy in Montpellier, France.
At the winery, the black grape is processed for about two months in total to turn it into red wine, while the rosé takes up to six weeks of processing.
You can pair Pink Blossom with gado-gado (mixed vegetables served in peanut sauce) or sate lilit (minced fish and grated coconut on skewers), while the Black Velvet is best for rendang beef stew or ayam bumbu rujak (seasoned chicken).
Finally, Manoch adds, “You can find Chardonnay all around the world but you can only find Alphonse Lavallêe in Bali.”
Intan Tanjung, Contributor, Bali | Lifestyle | Sun, October 14 2012, 2:27 PM
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/10/14/a-sip-bali-wines.html
Why Tourism?
Tourism – an Economic and Social Phenomenon
Over the decades, tourism has experienced continued growth and deepening diversification to become one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world. Modern tourism is closely linked to development and encompasses a growing number of new destinations. These dynamics have turned tourism into a key driver for socio-economic progress.
Today, the business volume of tourism equals or even surpasses that of oil exports, food products or automobiles. Tourism has become one of the major players in international commerce, and represents at the same time one of the main income sources for many developing countries. This growth goes hand in hand with an increasing diversification and competition among destinations.
This global spread of tourism in industrialised and developed states has produced economic and employment benefits in many related sectors - from construction to agriculture or telecommunications.
The contribution of tourism to economic well-being depends on the quality and the revenues of the tourism offer. UNWTO assists destinations in their sustainable positioning in ever more complex national and international markets. As the UN agency dedicated to tourism, UNWTO points out that particularly developing countries stand to benefit from sustainable tourism and acts to help make this a reality.
Key numbers
Current developments & forecasts
- International tourist arrivals grew by nearly 4% in 2011 to 983 million;
- International tourism generated in 2011 US$ 1,032 billion (€ 741 billion) in export earnings;
- UNWTO forecasts a growth in international tourist arrivals of between 3% and 4% in 2012.
For more information on Facts & Figures please visit: http://www.unwto.org/facts/menu.html
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
10 Hospitality Industry Trends for 2012-2013
1. Hoteliers Will Invest in Reinvigorating Properties To Take Advantage of the Market.
After years of delaying capital expenditures, hotel companies are betting that now is the best opportunity to renovate their properties. In 2012, more hotels will be renovating lobbies, restaurants, bars and fitness centers, as well as replacing beds, TVs and more. Hotel sales will spur even more renovations since sale contracts always contain a provision requiring the new owner to upgrade the property.
2. There Will Be Little to No New Development Dollars on the Debt or Equity Side.
While bad news for the developers who genuinely have enviable sites in great markets, this is good news for the majority of the hospitality industry, according to Hotel Guru.
3. Online Booking Will Continue to (Modestly) Grow.
The number of U.S. travelers booking and researching online is still growing. More than 114 million people will research travel online this year, while 94 million will actually book reservations. While more than 50 percent of travel bookings are made on the Internet, the online travel market has matured and I expect modest growth and stabilization.
4. More Mobile Bookings and Research.
More and more travelers will be turning to their mobile devices to research lodging and travel options and book and communicate room preferences directly with the hotel. Mobile channel booking has increased four-fold between 2008 and 2010 according to Forrester Research. Google is also projecting that mobile will overtake PCs as the most common web-access device by 2013.
5. Demand and Average Rate are Up In Most Markets, but Not Equally Distributed.
The top 25 markets in the U.S., and those that were really battered at the height of the recession, have seen the most bounce by and large. Many secondary and tertiary markets have not seen a strong recovery to date.
6. Revenue Management Will Make the Art of Managing a Hotel More of a Science.
Revenue management has morphed from the days it was first introduced by the airline industry in the 1970s to being a complex science today. Managers have always lowered prices to stimulate sales when demand is weak and have raised prices during peak demand periods. Hotels are now able to update prices for all future arrival dates to match market demands each day, via advanced market intelligence applications. TravelClick has pace reports for transient and group demand that look at bookings one year in advance. Plus, Smith Travel Research will soon introduce reports offering intelligence looking at future bookings, rather than solely historic figures.
7. Proliferation of Distribution Channel Management Will Largely Impact Pricing
More than ever, it will be vital for hotel owners and operators to stay on top of the distribution landscape that is expanding beyond OTAs, including popular sales vehicles such as meta-search, flash sales and mobile channels. Beyond simple awareness of the different mediums available to sell hotel rooms, hoteliers must know the costs of the variety of distribution channels and the returns expected from each.Hoteliers must preserve rate parity and their brand by utilizing the most cost-effective distribution channels, instead of using desperate measures to sell inventory.
8. Brands Will Put More Money into Deals to Expand Market Share
The brands are at war for the development deals that have a chance to get financed. Starwood, Hyatt and Intercontinental are aggressively pursuing the Hilton and Marriott juggernaut. Whether it’s key money, mezzanine debt or equity, seasoned developers will have their way with the brands as they fight for share of the new builds.
9. Prepare for Growth
However, know where we are in the game. We are in the 2nd inning of the industry when compared to a baseball game with the peak or 9th inning coming in 2016…use caution from 2017 and beyond! These next 5 years will see hotel values with annualized double digit growth. Demand will stabilize in 2012 but rates will grow beyond the rate of inflation. That means profits and values improve markedly.
10. Social Media Will Continue to Transform Connections with Travelers
By 2016, half of the travel industry will be using social media as a way of generating revenue and bookings. Currently more than one-fifth (22 percent) use socialmedia as a revenue generating tool with a further 27 percent planning to do so over the next five years. Plus, social media will become more of a key component of Search Engine Results Page (SERP) algorithms. Facebook’s posts are already integrated into Bing search and Google+ emerged with native integration into Google search. Hotels can no longer afford to linger over adding social media to their marketing mix. It’s now a necessary element of traffic-driving success.
Source: http://www.fdewihospitality.com/10-hospitality-industry-trends-for-2012-2013/
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