Australians cancel Bali bookings
DENPASAR (JP): Hotels in the country's main tourist destination, Bali, reported on Thursday some cancellations by Bali-bound Australians, amid growing anti-Australian sentiment in most parts of Indonesia.
Although several star-rated hotels on the island made the claims, they described the cancellations as normal and "insignificant".
The assistant to the public relations manager at the Grand Hyatt in Nusa Dua, Maria Maringka, said on Thursday only a few tourists had canceled their Bali visits.
"So far, we have received six cancellations, most of which came from Australians. But we're still optimistic about the occupancy rate in the months ahead, as no cancellations have been made for reservations made for October and November," she said.
Anti-Australian sentiment is growing in Jakarta and other parts of the country, especially in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, which hosts many Australian mining companies.
Australia's two biggest resources and mining groups, Broken Hill Proprietary Co. and Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) have started pulling staff and their families out of Indonesia, as tensions between the two countries build over East Timor.
Other Australian companies with Indonesian operations are also putting contingency plans together, while others are discouraging travel to Indonesia and maintaining a close watch on developments.
Australian visitors accounted for about 30 percent of Bali's 1.2 foreign visitors last year.
Public relations manager of the Sheraton Nusa Indah, Lisa Halim, said the cancellations at the hotel were insignificant in comparison to new bookings.
"We are receiving about five cancellation notes per day, mostly from Australians and Europeans who are worried about the security here. But the number is nothing compared with between the 100 to 150 new bookings we receive per day," she said.
Hoteliers said the tense relationships between the two countries had so far not affected room occupancy rates.
Maria said 85 percent of the total 659 rooms in the Grand Hyatt were occupied, while Lisa said the Sheraton Nusa Indah was currently fully booked.
Public relations manager of the Ritz Carlton in Jimbaran, Nike Kurnia, said a few cancellations were in fact welcomed by the hotel, because the hotel was currently inundated with tourists, and the occupancy rate stood about 102 percent.
Hoteliers said, however, they remained cautious about the possibility of a dramatic drop in the number of inbound tourists if anti-Indonesia sentiment increased by the international public. Many said they were carrying out strategies to respond to clients' concerns.
Lisa said the Sheraton Nusa Indah tried to ease the anxiety of potential visitors concerning the situation here in a variety of ways. She said the hotel sent out up-to-date information about the political situation, and a map of Indonesia so that international tourists could have an accurate and clear picture of their tourist destination.
Meanwhile, an Australian travel agent, the New South Wales- based travel agent for Great Adventure Holidays denied on Thursday a report that claimed the company was boycotting Indonesia.
Michael Hill, destination manager of Great Adventure Holidays' representative office in Bali, said the company had not even considered taking such action.
He was commenting on a report published on Thursday in The Jakarta Post about the Indonesian Inbound Tour Operators Club's concern over a boycott by two Australian travel agents, referred to as Great Adventure and Harvest.
"What happened is that our chief executive stated in his letter to Alwi Baria of our ground handler here, Pacto Ltd., that the Australian Travel Industry was discussing the boycott of Indonesia," he said in a statement.
"There was at no time information mentioning that Great Adventure Holidays was putting a boycott on Indonesia," he added. (50/cst)