Australia Discovering Lombok?!

I heard that an airline is going to start direct service Perth to Lombok?!

Then I saw this article in the Aussie Wall Street Journal (The New Bali: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,,24800675-5018055,00.html)

Is Lombok about to be ';discovered';?!

Australia Discovering Lombok?!

They are building an international airport on Lombok, a year ago when we were there they had just started digging.

So if you want to experience the undisturbed Lombok, you must hurry.

Australia Discovering Lombok?!

Lombok has been discovered by a few and has featured in New Yorker, Conte Neste and various other mags over the last few years. The new airport is underway fueled by Dubai money but there is an international airport next door to the domestic and have had direct flights from Singapore for some years and visa on arrival facilities. Yes, Indojet are supposed to start flying from Perth this year. Just off the island next door, Sumbawa, is a smik secluded resort and Lady Di was rumoured to have stayed before her demise. It is not unusual to have the helicopter from Bali back and forth with ';anonymous guests';. There are more and more chic villas being constructed but many 3* type places rely on an increasing conference market to keep afloat though the package type market is slowly increasing and alot of this growth is actually from the ex Soviet countries, South Korea and China. In the 1990s Lombok had quite a thriving tourist industry but slipped due to some riots and the aftermath of the Bali bombings.

i doubt it. look at the amount of interest shown in lombok in this forum compared to other places.

surprisingly, on my last trip to gili air there were very few tourists but gili t was packed.

I do not wish to offend anyone but I hope that there would not be a direct flight from Perth - Lombok. My fear is that the natural, tranquil atmosphere of Lombok would become too touristy..

The exact same thing that has happened to various coastal towns/villages in Turkey such as Bodrum, Fethiye and Kalkan, they are literally packed British sun-seekers that the only thing missing was the Union Jack flying high!

Also, I beg to differ your wording of Lombok about to be ';discovered';. Lombok has been in many guide books and travel books especially for the travel fanatics (Lonely Planet, The Rough Guides, Eyewitness Travel, etc).

If by %26#39;undiscovered%26#39; you mean that there are no tacky ';Irish'; pubs, English breakfast drunk backpackers and pale middle aged European ladies going topless thinking that Lombok=Hawaii, than I guess that is not a very bad thing.