Bali Benefits from Inaugural ‘Golf Festival’

The inaugural Bali Golf Festival has been hailed as a success.

One of the initiatives of the newly-formed Play Golf Bali partnership, the four-week Bali Golf Festival, which concluded this week, was aimed at enticing golfers to the idyllic Indonesian getaway from all over the world.

The promotion paid off with more than 250 golfers taking advantage of the special offers.

“The response we received was hugely encouraging,” said Baromeus Gosal, President-Director of Baltic Tour and Travel, one of Indonesia’s foremost golf travel operators and a member of the Play Golf Bali group.

The partnership also comprises Bali National Golf Club, Bukit Pandawa Golf & Country Club, Handara Golf & Resort Bali, New Kuta Golf and Nirwana Bali Golf Club.

While a number of golfers from Europe and the United States were attracted by the packages, the greatest take-up came from Asia with groups and families arriving from China, India, Singapore and Taiwan.

“When we launched the Bali Golf Festival it was the intention to make this a highlight on the region’s annual golfing calendar. We have been pleased with the impact made by our first Bali Golf Festival and we anticipate an even stronger response when we stage our first Bali Golfing Extravaganza (November 1 to December 20),” said Gosal.

A variety of packages were available, ranging from four-day/three-night to five-day/four-night.

“We offered a broad combination of choices at which courses to play and which hotels to stay. From the feedback we received, visitors particularly liked the fact that they were able to select which part of the island they wanted to focus on,” said Gosal.

In addition to the Bali Golf Festival and Bali Golfing Extravaganza, the Play Golf Bali partners will join forces for the Bali Dewata World Golf Tournament (November 12-17), an event staged in conjunction with Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism.

Meanwhile, continuing the drive to spread the word about the delights of golfing on the Island of the Gods, a selection of influential golf tour operators have recently been introduced to Play Golf Bali.

Immediately following a familiarisation trip from leading South Korean operators, Play Golf Bali hosted individuals from prominent travel companies in Australia and India.

“Engaging with key tour operators is an important element of what we’re doing to raise the profile of Bali as a world-class golfing getaway,” said Gosal. “There is no better to do that than bringing them to Bali to experience for themselves the outstanding facilities of all the Play Golf Bali members.”

The visit of the tour operators coincided with the news that Bukit Pandawa Golf & Country Club is one of four courses nominated for the accolade of ‘World’s Best Par-3 Course’.

The result will be announced in November at the annual World Golf Awards in Portugal.