Bali tourism will remain Australians' tropical polyground: Experts

Bali tourism will remain Australians' tropical polyground: Experts

Neil Sands, Agence France-Presse, Sydney

Bali's iconic status as a tropical playground for young
Australians will rise from the ashes of the car bomb that killed
scores of holidaymakers, travel experts said Tuesday.

Labeling predictions that Bali was finished as one of
Australia's top international tourist destinations as "naive,"
industry insiders said numbers were likely to bounce back within
months.

About 200,000 Australians a year flock to the Indonesian
island paradise, providing the backbone of Bali's economy and an
important income source for the archipelago.

A spokeswoman for the Indonesian airline Garuda said flights
out of Australia to Bali were still "one-third to half full" of
tourists and only about 20 percent of bookings for October had
been canceled since the attack.

"Obviously its early days yet but it's not as bad as we
expected," she said.

FlightCentre marketing general manager Alissa Pollock said New
York's experience after last year's Sept. 11 attacks showed
tourist numbers began to recover after six months and the process
would probably be quicker in Bali.

"I was in New York earlier this year and it was the same
destination as it was two years ago but now there was a new
tourist site -- it's as brutal as that," she said.

Pollock said Bali is so entrenched in Australian hearts that
they would return there after travel warnings issued after the
bombing were lifted.

"It's a fantastic tourist destination right on Australia's
doorstep," she said.

"The market will be soft for a while but with increased
security from the Indonesians a lot of Australians will feel
comfortable traveling there and say 'bugger it, I'm not going to
be put off'."

"I think a bit of the brazen Aussie spirit will come through."

Her comments were backed up by a surfer in Sydney who believed
now was the time to visit Bali and rediscover the tropical
paradise that became a mecca for Australian board riders in the
1970s.

"All the boys down at Bondi (beach) this morning were talking
about getting over to Bali. They reckon the airfares will be
cheap and there'll be no-one there," said the 42-year-old Sydney
man.

"The waves will be empty and they don't reckon they'll be in
any danger."

Sydney newlyweds Craig and Karen Ashworth traveled from Sydney
to Bali on their honeymoon the morning after the blast and were
also sanguine about the danger, according to Craig's mother Pat.

"When I spoke to them there was only one other couple at the
resort in Nusa Dua and they were having a very relaxing time,"
she told AFP.

Sue Smith, managing director of student travel agency STA
travel, said on average the outlet had experienced only one
cancellation per shop.

"In terms of the Australian public, we are prolific
travelers, we are resilient travelers," she said.

"In the short-term it may take some people away but I think it
will come back."

But Tony Wheeler, founder of the budget traveler's bible
Lonely Planet travel guides, told the Sydney Morning Herald
newspaper this week the attack would stop Bali tourism "stone
dead".

Lonely Planet advised on its website Monday that travelers
halt plans to travel to Bali until more was known about who
caused the blast.

It described Bali as the "glittering jewel in the
deteriorating crown of Indonesia".