Asia-Pacific tourism facing tough times after Bali bombing
Asia-Pacific tourism facing tough times after Bali bombing
Neil Sands Agence France-Presse Sydney
Travellers are increasingly nervous about visiting the Asia- Pacific region following the Bali bombings, a survey has shown and industry experts warn rebuilding confidence will be a slow and expensive process.
The tourism industry is one of the region's largest sectors, generating receipts of almost US$180 billion a year and employing hundreds of thousands of people, according to the Pacific Asia Travel Association.
But analysts, while reluctant to put a figure on how much the scare could cost, fear the Asia-Pacific will be seen as a terrorism hotspot and tourists will choose to go elsewhere after the Oct. 12 bombing in Bali which killed almost 200 people, many of them holidaymakers.
A survey by the International Air Transport Association in October showed 42 percent of business travellers in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific were cautious but would still travel around the region if necessary.
The figure was almost double the 22 percent recorded in June, highlighting the fears prompted by the attack on the Indonesian resort island.
John Koldowsli, managing director of Bangkok-based PATA's strategic intelligence center, said the immediate casualties among tourist resorts were obvious.
He said tourism in Bali and the rest of Indonesia had been devastated, along with other countries in the region seen as under threat from Muslim extremists, such as the Philippines and Malaysia.
But Koldowski said other destinations like Thailand, Cambodia and Laos appeared to be experiencing an upsurge in tourist numbers. He said it was too early to say if tourism in the whole region had been affected by Bali.
"Perception is the key," he said.
"The real telling time will be in the next month or two when everyone's waiting for what's next -- will there be a spate of attacks in the region or will there be a war in Iraq or will there be something else happen? Everyone's bracing themselves for the next big thing, whenever it may come," he said.
Australian Tourism Minister Joe Hockey had no doubt that the world now saw the Asia-Pacific as a more dangerous place to travel, although he was keen to distance his country from the troubles.
"Unfortunately, the rest of the world sees the event as the death of 200 tourists in our region and we hope the rest of the world would understand Australia is an open and friendly and welcoming place to do business and to come and visit," he said.
Australian Tourism Taskforce chairman Chris Brown said the Bali bombing showed no region was immune to terrorism.
"The fear is that the Japanese, Americans and whoever will decide to stay away from the whole region
"But they're running out of places they can stay away from. I'd hate to say we're becoming more resilient to this, but we are."
He said he had seen no evidence that tourists believed the region was susceptible to terrorism and the industry's task was to get this message across.
"Unfortunately tourism marketing is an expensive business but that's what we've got to do," he said.
Koldowski said it had taken two years for tourist numbers to recover after tourist scares following the massacre of holidaymakers in Luxor, Egypt, and an attempted coup in the Pacific nation of Fiji.
"I don't think it'll take that long here," he said.
However, he said tourist numbers would not begin to recover until Western nations lifted the travel advisories they imposed on many nations in the region following Bali.
"These advisories can be a bit of a knee-jerk reaction, they're quick to go on but slow to update and even slower to come off," he said.