Sekar Jagat Spa | Nusa Dua, Bali

The field has been set for the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, a season-ending event for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour’s top International tournament winners. Marion Bartoli, Samantha Stosur, Yanina Wickmayer, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Shahar Peer, Melinda Czink, Agnes Szavay, Aravane Rezai and Magdalena Rybarikova have qualified, while Kimiko Date Krumm and Sabine Lisicki have accepted invitations as tournament wildcards to round out the playing field at the inaugural event. Additionally, Vera Dushevina will travel to Bali as an alternate.

Making its debut in Nusa Dua Bali, Indonesia from November 4-8, 2009, the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions features established and next generation stars competing in an innovative 12-woman round robin singles format (four groups of three players), and offers $600,000 in prize money. The top 10 highest-ranked players who have won an International tournament during the 2009 season on the Tour and who are not competing at the Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha 2009 (which features the top eight singles players in the world) qualify for the event.

Continue reading at sonyericssonwtatour.com >>

Related links: Official site of Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions

Number of tourists visiting Bali in the first quarter of 2009. In brackets compared to Q1 2008. Total number of tourist arrivals in Bali in the first quarter of 2009 reached 490,454 (+4.28%).

Japan
83.470 (-11.63%)

Australia
71.970 (+24.85%)

China
56.030 (+55.62%)

Malaysia
29.971 (+19.85%)

Taiwan
28.066 (-24.01%)

France (+19.02%), Russia (+6.33%),

United Kingdom (-16.01%), USA (-7.05%)

Source: Bali Office of the Central Statistics Board (BPS)

Related links: Bali Tourist Arrivals 2008 (January-June) | Bali Tourist Arrivals 2008 |

Bali International Direct Arrivals 2009 vs 2008 | Central Bureau of Statistics Indonesia |

The 31st Annual Bali Arts Festival is being held from 13 June until 11 July this year. The President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is scheduled to open the festival in Denpasar on June 13.

The festival is a wonderful spectacle and a great introduction to Balinese artistic traditions and culture. Events take place throughout each day for an entire month and include handicraft exhibitions, cultural performances, music, classical palace dances and historical exhibitions. 180 art performances from 12 provinces in Indonesia and eight foreign countries - South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, India, China and Mexico and the United States.

It is the biggest event of its kind in the country and you really should try to attend at least one evening. Please don’t mind the long way to Denpasar and the sometimes poor organization of the event, the great performances and atmosphere will make up for that.

Related links: Complete schedule of Bali Arts Festival 2009 | JakartaPost article on upcoming Bali Arts Festival 2009 | Pictures of Bali Arts Festival 2008 on flickr | Bali News
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