Every year since 1988, Condé Nast Traveler conducts a Readers' Choice Sur vey that involves a select sample of its readers. This year, a total of 25,008 responses were filed, where Mediamark Research, Inc., of New York City, will be carrying out the final tabulation.

Anyone who has visited Ubud are aware that this picturesque town has its own magical way of impressing and ta king away the breaths of tourists and holidaymakers. The town people's friend liness and the atmosphere itself have brought Ubud to receive an award for Best City in Asia 2009 from Condé Nast Traveler Choice Awards. With an overall rating of 82.5, Ubud has prestigiously triumphed over last year's win ner Bangkok that finished the year with 82.2. In third place is Hong Kong with 81.3, followed by Chiang Mai with 80.9 and Kyoto with 80.2. Cities were rated based on atmosphere/ambience, culture/sites, friendliness, lodging, restaurants and shopping, in which Ubud received the highest rate for its friendliness.



For over a hundred years, Ubud has been a royal town. The last king of Ubud, Tjokorda Gede Agung Sukawati, passed away in 1978, but descendants of the royal family still live in traditional palaces, called Puris. Hence, they are also known with the term puri families. The princes of Ubud still bear the name Tjokorda or Agung. The Tjokordas hold a special role in the Ubud society. They are prominent figures in the local business community, art institutions and among professional circles. Having tremendous influence on artistic and cultural developments, they are regarded as the heirs and defenders of local culture and traditions.

Puri Ubud started to open itself up to outside influences in the early 20th century. Artists, especially from the West, have started to learn more about Ubud and acknow ledge its artistic values. It was from here that Ubud started to undergo significant changes. Please read our conversation article with Tjok Ace to learn more about the history of Ubud and the phases that Ubud have gone through.

By the 1920's tourists all over the world flocked to Ubud to experience its natural beauty and exotic arts and culture. These tourists introduced Ubud to the tourism industry concept. Gradually, the tourism industry in Ubud helped stimulate the local economy.

Regarding Ubud as the crown jewel of Bali, Hermawan Kartajaya, CEO & Founder of MarkPlus, Inc., along with Bembi Dwi Indrio M launched a book entitled, Ubud, The Spirit of Bali, at the MarkPlus Conference 2010 on December 10th, 2009. "To me, Ubud has become the spirit of Bali," Hermawan shared with Gianyar Regent, Tjok Ace. "Anyone who has visited Ubud will feel as if they have gotten a 'Taksu'," he explained. 'Taksu' can be said to be a person's inner energy or the po wer of a person's talent that enables him/her to create amazing works. "It's also be cause of the Tri Hita Karana, the balance between God, nature and human beings," Hermawan continued.



Ubud has been very successful in pre serving its culture, while also being open to changes and controlled modernizations . According to the tourism law, Indonesia has two groups of hotels, star hotels and non-star hotels. However, Ubud has its own history and has more homestays compared to hotels. There are abolut 500 homestays in Ubud, 16 star hotels and about 60 non-star hotels. Ubud's government officials has started to con trol the quantity of hotels that are built in Ubud to make sure that Ubud does not become over crowded with commercial hotels. In terms of quality, they have form ed a special Design Committee to formalize the types of models/designs that are in accordance and inline with Ubud's concept itself, such as the streetlamps that they use, the appearances and forms of company name boards, etc.

A full version of this article as well as an Interview with Gianyar Regent, Tjok Ace, can be read in our March 2010 edition of Marketeers.