Today's speaker is Jack M.Daniels, International Tourism Consultant and President Director of Bali Discovery Tours, Jack  is originally from The United States where he graduated from Michigan State Universit in 1975 with a B.A in Philosophy and Psychology.  Jack Daniels is an award-winning tourism professional, writer and pioneer in Indonesian IT. He has got extensive experience as consultant and deal-maker in tourism projects with wide ranging knowledge of local culture, business and legal environment.

Jack Daniels has been a Bali resident since many years and he is a fluent speaker of the Indonesian language.  He is President Director of Bali Discovery Tours. On his website Bali Discovery.com you can find all you need to know for a holiday in Bali. Bali Discovery Tours will bring you everywhere you wish to go. Most of us residing here will know Mr. Daniels as the editor of the PATA Award-winning BALI UPDATE – which is a well researched informative publication. The BALI UPDATE is sent to 20,000 subscribers every week, in Bali, and all over the world. This week it is 13 years ago that the first BALI UPDATE e-newsletter was sent out. Since then The Bali Update has consistently appeared every Monday morning; an admirable job in itself.

Jack started by showing figures for number of visitors, length of stay, money spent etc.  He reviewed recent challenges such as the H1N1 scare and the World Economic Crisis.  Indonesia is competing with ASEAN countries for tourists and is not doing so well - only doing better than Myanmar and Brunei.

Challenges include airport limitations, power supply limitations, problems with water supply, and troubles with planning. 
Bu there are positives including Indonesia's political evolution and Bali's cultural awakening.