Bali back in vogue for travelers

Tropical fish swim around the coral formations on the artificial reef project. The project is part of a an ambitious underwater experiment which uses low-voltage electrical stimuli to revive the badly damaged coral reef. PHOTO: AP

Bali is back as one of the top five favorite destinations for Asia-Pacific travelers, less than two years after a terrorist attack killed 202 people on the Indonesian resort island, a new report has shown.

Bangkok remained the top choice, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, with Bali in fifth place, according to an analysis by Singapore-based ZUJI, a leading online travel booking company in the region.

London, Jakarta, Taipei and Manila were also among the 10 most visited cities, said the report, which covered the June quarter.

"Bali is back," it said, noting the island, famed for its surf, beaches and local culture, was number 13 in its previous report in the March quarter.

Massive car bombs exploded outside two nightclubs in Bali's entertainment district on October 12, 2002, killing 164 foreign holidaymakers and 38 Indonesians, and devastating the island's tourist industry.

Investigations later showed the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah extremist network staged the Bali attacks to avenge perceived Western oppression of Muslims worldwide.

Top five Asian destinations 1. Bangkok 2. Hong Kong 3. Singapore 4. Kuala Lumpur 5. Bali

ZUJI's report also showed a rising number of travelers are using their credit cards to pay for their online travel bookings, as concerns about Internet security eased.

In the June quarter, 96 percent of transactions with the company were paid with credit cards, up from 92 percent in the first quarter.

ZUJI, a joint venture between 15 leading Asia Pacific airlines and the US-based Internet travel site Travelocity, has 1 million registered members. It has Internet travel sites in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia. The report also said electronic tickets, or e-tickets, were becoming more popular in the region.

Nearly a quarter of all international air tickets issued during the June quarter were e-tickets, up from 15 percent in the previous quarter.

There was also a growing trend towards spur-of-the-moment travel and shorter trips. In the June quarter, 67 percent of flights booked were for trips of up to seven days.

High-income households and low-income earners were the ones more likely to shopping for travel online, the report said.

"The lower income household representatives are very likely to be students and younger people, who although on lower budgets, have a propensity to Internet savviness and travel," it said.

The report was based on an online survey, with 8,200 respondents.