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The Worlds 50 Best Bars
Drinks International, based out of the UK, has published its version of the World’s 50 Best Restaurant awards, with the World’s 50 Best Bars list.From secretive speakeasies that require walking through phone booths, wardrobes and hidden, unmarked doors, editors and bar professionals around the world selected their picks for the best bars around the world.
While New York and London dominate the top 10 list, watering holes from 16 countries are represented along the way, including bars from France, Spain, Denmark, Spain, Japan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Russia.
Bali offers tourism lessons aplenty
DOUGLAS is a man with a mission. A Scotsman but Penang-born, Douglas has made Bali his residence. He’s committed to make Bali a tourism paradise, if it’s not already one.
Now why would a Scotsman want to make Bali his home and, on top of that, do everything in his means to promote the small island, widely regarded as the tourism capital of the world?
 Douglas first arrived in Bali 17 years ago and had fallen in love with the island. Many others did, too. His affinity with Bali is such that he now operates an exclusive and luxurious villa and spa outfit in Jimbaran Bay.
 Called Gending Kedis (www.gendingkedis.com), Douglas’ boutique villas offer tenants utmost privacy for individuals and corporate staff for brainstorming purposes and board meetings. Honeymoon couples find Gending Kedis a godsend, too.
 Chatting with him last week in his pride and joy location, Douglas said he had just returned from Menado, Sulawesi, to promote his villas. In fact, he was there with other hoteliers doing a joint promotion.
Top hotels gain accolades at Wotif Group’s first Indonesia Hotel Awards in Bali
Top hotels gain accolades at Wotif Group’s first Indonesia Hotel Awards in Bali
Over 60 hoteliers and hotel executives gathered
Friday, October 16, 2009
Wotif Group, operator of leading online travel brands in the Asia Pacific region, held on 9 October 2009 their inaugural Indonesia Hotel Awards in popular island destination, Bali.
 
Set to be held annually, the Wotif Group Indonesia Hotel Awards aim to recognise top hotel partners who have attracted the most travellers through the Group’s accommodation sites - Wotif.com, AsiaWebDirect.com and LateStays.com - in the past twelve months. The Awards ceremony was a resounding success, with over 60 hoteliers and hotel executives gathered at a champagne breakfast event at the Oceans 27 boutique lounge on Kuta’s beachfront to celebrate the successes of their peers.
Sii Eawsakul, Wotif Group’s Executive General Manager for Asia, said, “Despite turbulent events in recent months, Indonesia, with Bali in particular, is a highly resilient market with great growth potential. We are thrilled at this opportunity to demonstrate our confidence in the country’s travel industry, and our appreciation for our hotel partners.”
“Indonesia remains a key growth market for Wotif Group, and we are set to ramp up our presence in the country with the opening of a new office in Bali very soon. We continue to support our hoteliers’ marketing efforts by promoting Indonesia as a tourism and travel destination, and by working closely with them to offer ever more attractive deals to the more than 7.5 million consumers who visit our sites every month,” she added.
Award categories included Top Achievers – hotels who produced the most room nights for the three Wotif Group brands – and Top Producers – hotels who generated the most revenue from the Wotif Group brands. The winners were:
Top Achievers FY 08/09 (room nights)
1. The Bali Dream Villa
2. Aston Bali Resort & Spa
3. Febri’s Hotel & Spa
Top Producers FY 08/09 (revenue)
1. The Bali Dream Villa
2. Aston Bali Resort & Spa
3. The Sanyas Suite
Awards were also presented to Best Newcomers for each brand – signifying hotels that had signed up on a Wotif Group brand during the year and generated the most room night sales per month since listing. Indonesia’s Best Newcomers were:
Wotif.com Best Newcomer FY 08/09
Padma Resort Bali at Legian
LateStays.com Best Newcomer FY 08/09
The Bali Dream Suite Villa
Asia Web Direct Best Newcomer FY 08/09
Melia Benoa
“It’s encouraging to see that our hotel partners increasingly recognise the value of the online channel in increasing their bottom lines, and utilising our unique online brands to achieve their sales goals,” said Sii.
Wotif Group’s brands in Asia include:
- Wotif.com – Australia’s number one accommodation website;
- Asia Web Direct – offering comprehensive destination guides such as Phuket.com for locations all over Asia, complete with hotel and tour booking functionality; and
- LateStays.com - the last-minute accommodation booking service by Asia Web Direct.
All Wotif Group sites offer hotels the ability to dynamically manage their rates, instant email confirmation of bookings, round-the-clock phone support and access to the millions of consumers globally that browse through these trusted sites each month.
( traveldailynews.com – Oct.14, 2009 )
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