Bali occupancy rates worst since 1998

Bali occupancy rates worst since 1998

A'an Suryana and I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post,
Denpasar, Bali

Balinese hotels have registered thousands of cancellations one
week after a powerful bomb blast ripped through Kuta nightclubs
and claimed almost 200 lives, sending the hotels' occupancy rates
to their lowest levels in four years.

As of Monday evening, hotel occupancy rates averaged 29.4
percent from 70.18 percent before the bomb blast, said I Gde
Pitana Brahmananda, the head of the Bali Tourism Authority.

"The only time the occupancy rate was lower than it is today
was during the political turmoil in May 1998," he said, referring
to the violent unrest in Jakarta that led to Indonesia's first
change of leadership in more than three decades.

But Bali may be facing its toughest year yet. The weekend bomb
blasts at a nightclub favored by foreign tourists has shattered
the long-held view that Bali was a safe haven amid the numerous
security outbreaks across the country.

For this month alone, Pitana said, hotels had recorded 2,725
cancellations.

"The number of 'room night' cancellations will definitely be
higher because each person is likely to book a room for more than
one night," he added.

General manager of the five-star Grand Hyatt Hotel Bali Robert
Van Der Maas confirmed the slew of cancellations which he
attributed to security fears.

He did not say how many had dropped their plans to stay at his
hotel, admitting only that it would be lower than last year's
occupancy rate.

"Just five days after the bomb blast, we had lost over 8,000
room nights," said Maas, who is an executive at Casagrande,
Bali's five-star hotel association.

Levie Martin, a public relations manager at the five-star
Sheraton Lagoon in Nusa Dua, said his hotel's occupancy rates had
fallen to a mere 14 percent, way below the average rate Pitana
cited.

"It's a historic low for our hotel, which even in the days
after September 11 recorded a 90 percent to 100 percent occupancy
rate," Martin said. "We'll have to do something big to get out of
this mess."

Elsewhere, the managing director of local travel agency PT
Pacific World Nusantara, Ida Bagus Lolec, said that 5,500 people
had canceled their trips to Bali, a number that would keep the
agency's books free up to July next year.

Out of this number, 2,500 were individual travelers while the
rest were registered with groups, he said at a news meeting.

"One of these groups had just arrived in Bali last week, but
after the blast they left straight away for Australia. They've
canceled the rest of their trip indefinitely," said Lolec, who is
also a member of the Bali chapter of the travel agency
association.

Bali Tourism Authority head Pitana said the situation would
worsen until November, after which foreign tourists would start
trickling back, as December was the island's traditional peak
season.

"What we're suffering from is the impact of travelers'
emotional reactions," he said, adding that by December "the
majority of our markets will realize that the explosion doesn't
mean there is a violent conflict among the Balinese."

However, to get that message across, he said his office would
launch a massive promotional program.

Maas agreed, saying that his organization would focus on ways
to restore Bali's tainted image.

"The perception has changed. Bali is no longer considered
safe," he said, adding that Casagrande planned large campaigns to
regain tourists' confidence.