HOTEL RESERVATIONS IN BALI INCREASE AHEAD OF LUNAR NEW YEAR

Denpasar, Bali, Feb 6 (Antara) - Many local tourists have made hotel reservations in Bali Island ahead of Chinese Lunar New Year and Balinese Galungan holiday, according to Executive Secretary & Marketing Communication Ibis Styles Bali Kuta Legian, Inesti Saraswati Dewi. "Hotel reservation ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year and Galungan holiday was mostly made by local tourists, among others from Bandung, Jakarta, Surabaya, and Medan," Saraswati remarked in Kuta, Bali Saturday. As the Chinese New Year holiday is getting closer, the hotel occupancy rate in the Indonesian island resort of Bali will increase by at least 70 percent, she noted. Hotels in Bali are ready to welcome the tourists who will come to the "island of god" to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year next Monday, according to her. Steps taken to meet the target of tourists staying at the hotels is the network of the hotel, in addition to giving discounts to guests who have become members, Saraswati further added. "We have been making efforts to attract tourists or guests staying at the hotel by providing ease and convenience in making reservations in advance," she said. Ibis Styles Hotel is a three-star hotel, but the amenities in the rooms are quite spacious and the interiors attractive, she explained. "So with extensive facilities and appealing interior design, the tourists or guests who stay in this hotel will feel more comfortable enjoy the facility," she said. The Tourism ministry will improve the management of pilgrimage tourism attractions across the country with the assistance of every stakeholder, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya has stated. Bearing the motto of "Unity in Diversity," Indonesia has varied characteristics to develop pilgrimage tourist destinations of Islam, Catholicism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and 245 local faiths.