Summit a step on the road to recovery<\/p>\n
Chris Brummitt, Associated Press, Nusa Dua, Bali<\/p>\n
Embattled Balinese are hoping this week's summit of Asian leaders
\non the island will help lure back travelers who have largely
\ndeserted this Indonesian resort since last year's bloody terror
\nattacks.<\/p>\n
Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations began arriving Monday on the Indonesian island ahead of
\ntalks Tuesday and Wednesday. The leaders of China, India, Japan
\nand South Korea are also attending.<\/p>\n
"If it's safe enough for them, it's surely safe enough for
\nordinary tourists," said Ketut Sukriani, a souvenir seller at the
\ngates of the five-star hotel complex where the talks are talking
\nplace. "Hopefully, they can tell their people that Bali is safer
\nthan last year," she said.<\/p>\n
ASEAN chose the island venue, Indonesia's prime tourist
\ndestination, to show confidence in the country after Islamic
\nmilitants bombed two nightclubs a year ago, killing 202 people,
\nmostly foreign tourists.<\/p>\n
Foreign arrivals dropped by more than 80 percent in the weeks
\nafter the attacks. Just as tour operators were reporting a
\nrevival in business, the regional SARS outbreak, and fears
\ngenerated by the war in Iraq hit the island again.<\/p>\n
Arrivals are still down by 20 percent over this time last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
"This summit is a ... vote of confidence in the stability and
\nsecurity in Indonesia, in particular Bali," Indonesian Foreign
\nMinister Hasan Wirayuda said. "We can expect that a positive
\nmessage can be relayed to the rest of the world."<\/p>\n
With police and foreign governments warning that more attacks
\nin the world's most populous Muslim nation are likely, around
\n7,000 police and soldiers patrolled the conference venue.<\/p>\n
ASEAN secretary-general Ong Keng Yong said hosting the summit
\non Bali was a "message" to the terrorists that the regional
\ngrouping would not be deterred.<\/p>\n
"Whatever happened business must continue to be conducted and
\nwe are determined to carry on as normal as possible," he said.<\/p>\n
Balinese courts have sentenced 15 people over the nightclub
\nbombings. Three of the accused were given death sentences.<\/p>\n
Like the island's thousands of other hawkers, Sukriani has
\nseen trade in her shop -- a tiny concession selling T-shirts and
\nsarongs -- fall by more than 70 percent since the bombings.<\/p>\n
With the one year anniversary of the attacks on Sunday, she is
\nhoping that the island will begin to shed its reputation for
\nterror and regain its status as an island paradise.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, however, the thousands of delegates and
\njournalists attending the summit have not led to any increase in
\nher daily takings.<\/p>\n
"Perhaps they are all too busy," she said as a convoy carrying
\na senior government official sped past with sirens blazing.<\/p>\n
"Maybe they will stop on their way home."<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/summit-a-step-on-the-road-to-recovery-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }