Asians urge world govts to avoid travel bans<\/p>\n
Joe McDonald, Associated Press, Beijing<\/p>\n
Tourism officials of 13 Asian countries appealed to other
\ngovernments on Saturday not to hurt the region's recovery from
\nSARS by indiscriminately discouraging travel following the car
\nbombing of Jakarta's Marriott Hotel.<\/p>\n
The appeal came at a meeting of officials from China, Japan,
\nSouth Korea and Southeast Asian countries who were discussing how
\nto revive tourism after the outbreak, which devastated airlines,
\nhotels and other travel-dependent businesses.<\/p>\n
The officials, who included Cabinet ministers and officials of
\nnational tourism boards, \"strongly condemn this act of terrorism
\nas a heinous and ruthless crime against humanity,\" said a joint
\nstatement issued at the end of the one-day meeting.<\/p>\n
It said they \"call on the international community to avoid
\nindiscriminately advising their citizens to refrain from
\nvisiting, as such measures could help achieve the objective of
\nterrorists.\"<\/p>\n
The United States, Britain and other governments issued
\nadvisories against nonessential travel to Indonesia following the
\nJakarta bombing Tuesday, which killed 10 people and wounded 150.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, where tourism is a major industry, already was
\nreeling from a drop in travel after a bombing that targeted
\nAustralian tourists on the island of Bali killed 202 people last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Officials at the Beijing meeting declared support for efforts
\nto catch the Jakarta bombers and said such attacks wouldn't
\nderail efforts to repair damage to tourism from severe acute
\nrespiratory syndrome.<\/p>\n
\"As a group, we will not allow terrorist activity to disrupt
\nour plans,\" Lim Neo Chian, deputy chairman of the Singapore
\nTourism Board, said at a news conference.<\/p>\n
SARS, which killed more than 800 people worldwide, most of
\nthem in Asia, devastated travel as tourists and businesspeople
\nheeded warnings to avoid infected areas.<\/p>\n
In China, lost revenues this year due to SARS are expected to
\ntotal 270 billion yuan (US$32 billion), said Vice Premier Wu Yi,
\nthe official in charge of China's anti-SARS efforts.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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