Indonesia is just weeks away from dredging a bay on Bali to create a £150 million port facility in order to attract "the rich guy".
Following 5 years of planning, work is due to begin in September. The resulting cruise terminal and marina on Bali’s southern tip will be the largest port of the nation, able to accommodate 3 cruise ships at once, each with as many as 5,000 passengers aboard.
The One°15 marina, membership of which is US$60,888, was cited as inspiration for the new development at Benoa Port. Singapore club has 3,850 members - a target met in 2007 - and has since closed to membership applications. Its members enjoy “unprecedented lifestyle destination” in the shape of spa, pools, tennis courts, restaurants, luxury accommodation and “swanky boathouses”.
It is the clientele tourism bosses on Bali wish to attract. Arief Yahya, tourism minister of Indonesian, says that cruise industry presents untapped market for Bali, and though over 3 million tourists travel by cruise ships every year in East Asia-Australia region, Indonesia itself welcomes a total of 200,000.
Plans were also revealed to develop a cruise terminal to the north of Bali, at Celukan Bawang, capable of accommodating 7 ships at a time, each accommodating up to 1,000 passengers.
The brand new facilities are part of the drive of the country to increase annual visitor numbers from 11.4M in 2016 to 15M in 2017 and 20M by 2019.