Indonesia to repair tourism image

A view of Kuta beach from a bungee jumping tower on the Indonesian
resort island of Bali in this May 29, 2005 file photo. Tourism in
Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of some 17,000 islands, has been
shaken to the core by a string of disasters from bomb attacks on the
resort island of Bali to deadly tsunamis and bird flu outbreaks. The
drop in tourism since the 2004 tsunami continued this year with
foreign tourist arrivals dropping 7.5 percent to 1.89 million in the
first half of 2006, the statistics bureau said.
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It has all the ingredients of a tourist paradise: stunning beaches, a
countryside with lush paddy fields, grand heritage buildings and a
deeply mystical culture.
But tourism in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of some 17,000
islands, has been shaken to the core by a string of disasters from bomb
attacks on the resort island of Bali to deadly tsunamis and bird flu
outbreaks.
"Indonesia has been hit by so many misfortunes, and there doesn't
seem to be an end to it," said Meity Robot, vice-chair of the Indonesian
Tourism Council. "It's not easy for us to convince people to come back,"
she told Reuters.
Indonesia's tourism industry was only just recovering from the Asian
financial crisis of the late 1990s when it suffered a devastating blow
in 2002 with Islamic militants bombing nightclubs on Bali, killing 202
people, most of them foreigners.
Since then, a string of disasters have kept tourists away.
The industry took a big hit from the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami
of December 2004 as well as a tsunami this year that struck a popular
beach resort in Java and a massive earthquake in May in Yogyakarta, a
popular Java tourist destination.
A bird flu outbreak, which has killed more than 40 people in
Indonesia, has also kept visitors away. "We have to tell visitors these
are natural disasters, not man-made," said Yanti Sukamdani, head of the
Indonesian Hotel and Restaurants Association.
"We're trying to get the government to educate people on tsunamis and
get an early warning system in place. But if a warning system is not set
up in Bali, business could be hit," she added. The drop in tourism since
the 2004 tsunami continued this year with foreign tourist arrivals
dropping 7.5 percent to 1.89 million in the first half of 2006, the
statistics bureau said. Four million tourists visited Indonesia last
year.
Indonesian tourism officials are trying to turn the tide by promoting
other parts of the country that have been spared by natural disasters.
"Besides Bali and Java that have always been main tourist
destinations, we have areas like Lombok, Sumatra, Kalimantan and eastern
Indonesia for marine tourism," said Sambujo Parikesit, a senior tourism
ministry official. Nature reserves in Kalimantan and stone-age villages
in Papua are enticing to adventure travellers. High-end tourists can
take their pick of secluded luxury resorts where prices are dropping due
to low occupancy rates.
The slowdown in tourism, which accounts for around 5 per cent of
Indonesia's GDP and raked in about $4.4 billion last year, is
compounding a cooling of the economy. With fewer tourists, shopkeepers
in deserted souvenir shops on once-packed streets in Bali's popular Kuta
area are desperate. Some wear T-shirts emblazoned with abusive messages
against militants.
"The bombs have really affected our business," said a sarong-clad
woman at an art shop. But despite the potential dangers, some tourists
say they are not deterred from enjoying Indonesia's sun-kissed beaches.
"I am not afraid of being in Bali. A quake and tsunami could happen
anywhere. Bali is beautiful, the waves are great," said Mick, a
24-year-old Australian surfer, as he waded out of the water at Kuta.
"Disasters can happen anytime, everywhere," he added.
(Reuter)
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