Racial conflicts may hamper tourism recovery<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Racial and religious conflicts in some parts of
\nthe nation could drag down the recovery process of the country's
\nailing tourism, local hoteliers said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Vice chairman of the Indonesian Association of Hotels and
\nRestaurants, Feisol Hashim, said on Tuesday that if the conflicts
\ncould not be resolved soon, tourism could become worse than in
\n1998, when the industry fell into its worst crisis.<\/p>\n
\"The most valued asset in tourism is safety. Without a sense
\nof security prevailing in tourist areas, it will be very hard for
\nus to invite visitors to come here. They will not come even if we
\noffer a drastic discount,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
A number of churches were burned recently in Mataram, West
\nNusa Tenggara, after demonstrators ran amok demanding the
\ngovernment to stop the killings in riot-torn Maluku.<\/p>\n
Faisol said the religious clash in Mataram, located only 35
\nkilometers from Bali, Indonesia's most popular destination,
\ntotally damaged the country's image of tourism, which had just
\nstarted to improve.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's tourism saw an improvement last year after it was
\nhit by a series of political chaos, with the number of foreign
\nvisitors rising to 3.94 million last year from 3.76 million in
\n1998.<\/p>\n
The country expects to see between 5.2 million and six million
\ntourists this year, which is almost equivalent to the level
\nrecorded before the crisis hit the industry.<\/p>\n
Lombok is a potential tourist destination and often included
\nas part of tourism promotions to Bali. Approximately 11,000
\nforeign tourists visited Lombok last year, up from 7,000 in 1998.<\/p>\n
The religious clashes erupted in several areas of Lombok,
\nincluding the capital city of Mataram, Ampenan and the tourist
\nspot of Senggigi Beach, for several days starting Jan. 17.<\/p>\n
Reports said calm returned to the areas on Monday as many
\nbusinesses resumed activity.<\/p>\n
Director of communications at Sheraton Senggigi Beach Resort,
\nLisa Halim, said it was business as usual for hotels on Monday
\nalthough they predicted only a few tourists would show up this
\nweek due to concerns over security on the island.<\/p>\n
\"The incidents are very much regretted ... We did an
\naggressive promotion last year to improve our business here,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
She said last week's incidents caused the hotel to lose many
\nguests, resulting in a sharp drop in the room occupancy rate to
\nabout 20 percent from the hotel's average record of 57 percent in
\n1999.<\/p>\n
General manager of the Oberoi Resort, Joseph Polito, said it
\nwould need some time for hotels to see more tourists return to
\nthe area.<\/p>\n
\"It's going to be a long, hard road for us this year. This
\n(the incident) was very unfortunate ... inbound arrivals to
\nLombok were showing a constant growth lately,\" he said, adding
\nthat his hotel was forced to transfer most guests to Bali last
\nweek to avoid the violence.<\/p>\n
He said the fact that some foreign governments issued travel
\nwarnings or bans from visiting Lombok for their citizens, would
\nmake it difficult for hotels in the area to see good business for
\na while.<\/p>\n
Several foreign governments, including the United States,
\nGreat Britain and Switzerland, have strongly advised citizens to
\navoid travel to Lombok until the situation has returned to
\nnormal. The countries also advised their citizens who were
\nstaying in Lombok to leave the area as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Indonesian Inbound Tour Operators Club,
\nArievaldy Kumarga, affirmed Polito's concern, adding that local
\ntour operators also advised their overseas travel agents not to
\nsend tourists to Lombok until at least the end of the month.<\/p>\n
\"Travel agents here must provide reliable information to our
\ncolleagues overseas. We can't cover up the situation and tell
\nthem that there is nothing happening here. So we told them the
\ntruth and recommended them to reschedule visits to Lombok,\" he
\nsaid. (cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/racial-conflicts-may-hamper-tourism-recovery-1447893297",
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