Asita fears more travel warnings against Indonesia

JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies (Asita) fears more countries will issue warnings against visiting Indonesia following warnings issued by Taiwan and Britain on Monday.

The association's chairwoman Meity Robot said on Tuesday the travel warnings would be another blow to the country's ailing tourism industry.

"The issuance of a travel warning (against Indonesia) has a negative impact (on tourism), although it doesn't forbid people from coming," Meity told The Jakarta Post.

Meity said although the impact may not be evident immediately, a travel warning would discourage tourists from visiting Indonesia.

The governments of Taiwan and Britain issued travel advisories on Monday, warning their citizens against traveling to Indonesia as antigovernment protests continue to intensify in Jakarta and other major cities.

Several countries issued travel warnings early last year and some of them, including the United States, have yet to lift the warnings due to continued uncertainty in the country.

Analysts fear antigovernment demonstrations will provoke clashes with supporters of President Abdurrahman Wahid, who has been under pressure to resign for his alleged involvement in two financial scandals.

However, Meity was optimistic that people who have already made arrangements to visit the country will not cancel their plans despite the warnings issued by Taiwan and Britain.

"In fact, I know of a group that is coming to attend a meeting in Bali next week. They haven't canceled their plans," she said, adding that the group comprise people from several countries, including Taiwan, Britain and the United States.

Meity said that tourists who had been regularly visiting the country would continue to come and not be influenced by travel advisories as they were familiar with the country.

"They know, for instance, if there are riots in Jakarta, other parts of the country may not be affected," she said.

Meity said the Indonesian tourist industry would be unrelenting in its efforts to educate foreigners on the real situation in Indonesia.

"News on Indonesia is often unbalanced, and we have to show them what the real situation is, maybe through a regularly updated website," she said.

The Indonesian tourist industry will also participate actively in international travel marts to show other countries that tourism in Indonesia is not dead, Meity said.

Foreign tourist arrivals from January 2000 to November 2000 reached 3.8 million, an increase of 6 percent compared to the 3.6 million in the same period in 1999.(tnt)