Bird flu should not impact RI tourism<\/p>\n
P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The current outbreak of bird flu disease in a number of Asian
\ncountries should not have a significant impact on the Indonesian
\ntourism sector as long as the government takes measures to
\nprevent the disease from becoming rampant in this country,
\naccording to tourism experts.<\/p>\n
The experts also believed that the bird flu disease would be
\neasier to control compared to last year's Severe Acute
\nRespiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, which has dealt a heavy
\nblow to the region's tourism industry.<\/p>\n
\"Even if there will be an impact, I don't think that it will
\nbe significant particularly as Indonesia is still free from bird
\nflu,\" said Metty Robot, deputy chairwoman of the Indonesian
\nTourism Society.<\/p>\n
\"Although it won't be as frightening as SARS, the government
\nshould have some measures in place to prevent it from becoming a
\nproblem.\"<\/p>\n
But the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the
\nbird flu outbreak, which has affected countries like Vietnam,
\nSouth Korea, Japan and Thailand, could be more deadly than SARS.<\/p>\n
Yanti Sukamdani of Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association
\n(PHRI) was optimistic that the government could deal with the
\nbird flu issue.<\/p>\n
\"As long as the government says that our poultry industry is
\nsafe and free from bird flu, then we shouldn't be worry. The key
\nis trust, if we cannot trust our own government, who can we?,\"
\nYanti said.<\/p>\n
Yanti also said that hotel management associations, in
\ncooperation with the health agency has prepared for the worst by
\nproviding medical posts for hotel guests, the same as was done
\nwith SARS.<\/p>\n
Yanti emphasized that hotel and restaurant customers should
\nnot be overly worried about eating poultry since all meat has
\nundergone tight screening from the health agency.<\/p>\n
The country's tourism sector has just started to recover from
\nthe spate of bad news like the SARS epidemic and a number of
\nbombing incidents.<\/p>\n
This year the government is targeting some 5 million foreign
\ntourist arrivals, from 4.4 million last year.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bird-flu-should-not-impact-ri-tourism-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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