Tourism industry may suffer another setback<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta\/Denpasar<\/p>\n
The country's tourism industry may suffer another serious setback
\nafter the bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel, unless the government
\ntakes immediate measures to tighten security.<\/p>\n
\"I have received reports from my members (tour and travel
\noperators), that some Japanese tourists have canceled their trips
\nto Indonesia. But I am not aware of the numbers yet,\" the
\nchairwoman of the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel
\nAgencies, Meity Robot, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. \"We
\nhave just gained foreign confidence, but the bombing has taken it
\nfrom us again.\"<\/p>\n
\"We can regain this confidence faster if the government and
\nthe police respond quickly,\" she added, pointing out that the
\nquick response of authorities following last year's Bali bombing
\nattacks had been helpful to the tourism sector.<\/p>\n
Indeed, recent statistics indicated that the tourism sector
\nhad started to recover from the impact of the Bali terror attack
\nand the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic. The Central
\nStatistics Agency (BPS) reported last week that the number of
\nforeign tourist arrivals had surged by 34.78 percent to 299,856
\nin June, from 222,500 in the previous month. Moreover, Ngurah
\nRai Airport in Bali, the country's most popular tourist
\ndestination, recorded a 65.75 percent jump in tourist arrivals
\nduring the month.<\/p>\n
Tourism is one of the country's major foreign exchange earners
\nand provides a huge number of jobs.<\/p>\n
So far, however, there has been no reaction of panic from
\nforeign visitors to the country.<\/p>\n
\"I haven't seen Jakarta hotels experiencing a deep plunge in
\ntheir occupancy rates, so far,\" Ade Suryanto, vice chairman of
\nhotel association, the Hotel Specialists, said.<\/p>\n
He added that Jakarta hotels witnessed the panic of tourists
\nin 1998 when devastating riots took place in the city.<\/p>\n
\"At that time, many hotel guests hastily packed their bags and
\nfled,\" he said. \"But this time, I haven't seen that happen. In
\nfact, tourists are arriving at hotels..\"<\/p>\n
The chief of Bali Tourism Authority, I Gde Pitana, said that
\nBali was experiencing a similar reaction. \"So far the (Marriott)
\nexplosion has not caused any negative developments on the number
\nof both arriving and departing tourists.\"<\/p>\n
Pitana dismissed rumors -- that thousands of foreign tourists
\nhad fled Bali because of the bombing -- as incorrect and
\nbaseless.<\/p>\n
The chief of the Ngurah Rai International Airport, I Gusti
\nMade Dhordy, substantiated Pitana's statement, claiming that
\neverything was perfectly normal at the airport.<\/p>\n
\"I have already checked this with the airlines and the ground-
\nstaff. There have been no unusual increases in tickets booked for
\noutbound flights or the numbers of departing passengers,\" Dhordy
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Separately, State Minister of Culture and Tourism I Gde Ardika
\nsaid on Wednesday, that the international community had not yet
\nissued any travel warnings to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
He said that a month ago, tourism ministers from Asian and
\nPacific countries had agreed not to issue travel warnings against
\neach other's countries, in a bid to strengthen their cooperation
\nin combating terrorism.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tourism-industry-may-suffer-another-setback-1447893297",
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