Nusa Dua, Indonesia

Nusa Dua is known as an enclave of large international 5-star resorts in south-eastern Bali. It is located 40 kilometres from Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali, and administered under Kuta South District. Nusa Dua means second island.Nusa Dua is a planned resort area located on the southeastern end of Bali. In the early 1980s the Suharto government and its friends in the Indonesian military saw that it would be beneficial to acquire a slice of the rapidly developing tourist industry in Bali. There was also a need, for reasons of national prestige, to have a facility able to host international events at the highest level -- Jakarta, the capital city in Java, was considered too unsightly and also too chaotic to be able to provide adequate security for visiting foreign dignitaries. The solution was to section off the relatively undeveloped peninsula at the south of Bali and provide it with infrastructure suitable for first-world visitors -- for example, unlike some other parts of Bali, water in Nusa Dua can safely be drunk straight from the tap and electricity supply is constant. The narrow strip leading to Nusa Dua makes it easy to control access to the development area, where numerous large American-style hotel complexes have been constructed. The development scheme opened for business in late April 1986 with the arrival of President Ronald Reagan for a regional economic conference. President Reagan stayed at the first of the hotels to be constructed in the Nusa Dua enclave, the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel -- architecturally one of the most spectacularly beautiful hotels in the region. The adjacent convention center is a reminder of the original purpose of the Nusa Dua development. Hotels are generally large, high class and have rates that reflect their status.