Hotel Vila Ombak celebrated its 10th Anniversary with a party and a special environmental programme on Friday, 31 November 2008. The popular Gili Trawangan resort decided to combine its birthday celebration with a campaign to support World Tourism Day, headed by the UNWTO, aims to combine tourism with environmentally aware practices and recently launched a campaign called “Tourism Responding to the Challenge of Climate Change”, with a call from the Indonesia Ministry of Culture and Tourism on 23 September 2008 to support the campaign amongst tourism industry here.

Hotel  Vila Ombak initially planned to have staff donate and plant two plants each on the island, to commemorate their anniversary and to show their commitment to making Gili Trawangan greener. However, after hearing about the program, the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism decided to support the Hotel’s initiative with donations of suitable tress by the local Forestry Department.

The tree planting ceremony took place on Friday, 31 November 2008 at 10.00 am with Mr. Lalu Gita Aryadi Msi, Head of Culture and Tourism Department, Imam Wahyudi SE, Hotel Vila Ombak General Manager, Mr. M. Taufik, Gili Indah Village Chief, Mr. IPTU Komang Heri Agus Mardika, Tanjung Chief of Police; together with radio, newspaper and TV journalist, Vila Ombak guests, expatriates, hotel staff and members of Trawangan community.

An initial 100 trees were planted at the ceremony, from the 1000 plants donated by the Forestry Deparmtent; the remainder will be planted when the rains start on the island. All trees will be taken care by hotel staff, with each staff member responsible for the care and watering of a least 2 plants each. The hotel will also create a special dripping system to water some plants. The hotel has also initiated a ‘Jumpa Berlian – Jumat Pagi Bersih Lingkungan’ every Friday morning, when hotel staff will clean up the hillside and check on the trees’ maintenance.

Later in the evening, the hotel celebrate the Hotel Vila Ombak 10th anniversary with a party and many door prizes for the  156 employees, donated by sponsors (hotel, agent and suppliers) and dedication gifts from the hotel. Staff members who had worked at the hotel for 10 years were presented dedication awards by Mr. Imam Wahyudi, Hotel Vila Ombak General Manager.

Congratulation for 10 successful years as a leading Gili Trawangan resort, Hotel Vila Ombak, and our best wishes for the future.