Asians urge world govts to avoid travel bans

Asians urge world govts to avoid travel bans

Joe McDonald, Associated Press, Beijing

Tourism officials of 13 Asian countries appealed to other
governments on Saturday not to hurt the region's recovery from
SARS by indiscriminately discouraging travel following the car
bombing of Jakarta's Marriott Hotel.

The appeal came at a meeting of officials from China, Japan,
South Korea and Southeast Asian countries who were discussing how
to revive tourism after the outbreak, which devastated airlines,
hotels and other travel-dependent businesses.

The officials, who included Cabinet ministers and officials of
national tourism boards, "strongly condemn this act of terrorism
as a heinous and ruthless crime against humanity," said a joint
statement issued at the end of the one-day meeting.

It said they "call on the international community to avoid
indiscriminately advising their citizens to refrain from
visiting, as such measures could help achieve the objective of
terrorists."

The United States, Britain and other governments issued
advisories against nonessential travel to Indonesia following the
Jakarta bombing Tuesday, which killed 10 people and wounded 150.

Indonesia, where tourism is a major industry, already was
reeling from a drop in travel after a bombing that targeted
Australian tourists on the island of Bali killed 202 people last
year.

Officials at the Beijing meeting declared support for efforts
to catch the Jakarta bombers and said such attacks wouldn't
derail efforts to repair damage to tourism from severe acute
respiratory syndrome.

"As a group, we will not allow terrorist activity to disrupt
our plans," Lim Neo Chian, deputy chairman of the Singapore
Tourism Board, said at a news conference.

SARS, which killed more than 800 people worldwide, most of
them in Asia, devastated travel as tourists and businesspeople
heeded warnings to avoid infected areas.

In China, lost revenues this year due to SARS are expected to
total 270 billion yuan (US$32 billion), said Vice Premier Wu Yi,
the official in charge of China's anti-SARS efforts.