Bali MICE industry fears negative impact from SARS

Bali MICE industry fears negative impact from SARS

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

The outbreak of a deadly new disease in two centers of Asia's
MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions)
industry, Singapore and Hong Kong, will not automatically prompt
organizers to relocate to the Indonesian resort island of Bali,
an industry expert said over the weekend.

"Bali's MICE industry will not gain any significant increase
just because Hong Kong and Singapore are being plagued by SARS
(Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)," said Ida Bagus Lolec, CEO
of Pacific World, a local MICE organizer.

Lolec said SARS had become a global health problem,
threatening not only Hong Kong and Singapore but also other
countries like Indonesia.

"SARS is not confined to Hong Kong and Singapore. The outbreak
of SARS in the two MICE centers will not trigger potential buyers
to relocate their meetings or conferences to Bali.

"Unless we launch an aggressive public relations campaign to
let people know that Bali is safe from SARS, most likely the
global fear of SARS will also adversely affect the island's
tourist industry," he said.

Activities associated with MICE are part of the overall
tourist industry, a major source of revenue not only for Bali but
for the entire country.

Lolec highlighted the fact that most of the major airlines
connecting Bali with the huge tourist markets in Europe and North
America used Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok as transit points.

"Bali is, in fact, the last destination on their routes. Given
the fact that the airlines have to stopover in cities currently
affected by SARS, do you really think that Bali will receive more
visitors from Europe and North America?" Lolec asked.

He predicted that SARS would prove far more damaging to Bali's
MICE industry than the war in Iraq.

"When war erupted potential buyers had to think twice before
boarding an airplane because of fears of a terrorist attack. Now,
with SARS, they don't even dare consider traveling by air," he
said.

Revenue from the local MICE industry, Lolec said, had
decreased by over 80 percent since the Bali bombings in October
last year. And he fears that the Iraq war and SARS will deal an
even greater blow to the industry.

"Before the bombings my company was bidding on some 400 MICE
requests per year. Usually, we were able to secure 120 to 150
MICE deals per year. Currently, the number is zero," he said.

Meanwhile, an exhibition organizer in Jakarta said on Friday
that because of SARS, delegates from Singapore had canceled their
participation in an apartment and house renovation expo last week
in the capital.

PT Panorama Convex, which organized the expo, said the
participants from Singapore canceled at the last minute following
calls from the Singaporean government for their citizens to avoid
traveling within the region.