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.