Balinese hope PATA conference lifts Bali's image

Balinese hope PATA conference lifts Bali's image

The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

The 52nd annual conference of the Pacific Asia Travel Association
(PATA) ends its five-day conference on Thursday. Bali, which
hosted the conference, hopes that the international event has
helped improve the island's image as a safe tourist destination.

Bali, long renowned as peaceful holiday island, has been
struggling since the terrorist bombing in Kuta last Oct. 12 which
killed nearly 200 people.

That terrorist act has drastically changed life on Bali, many
of whose three million residents rely on the tourist industry for
their livelihoods.

The bombing has crippled the island's tourist and tourist-
related sectors, which were the island's main economic pillars
along with agriculture and textiles.

And as Bali was still reeling from the bombing, another blow
was landed: the war in Iraq, which has hit the global tourist and
aviation industries.

Adding to these woes is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS), which began in China and spread to other countries in the
region, including Hong Kong and Singapore.

Under the weight of all these problems, Bali is having trouble
living up to the title "The Sun of the World", as Indian
statesman Jawaharal Nehru once called it.

The people of Bali hope the PATA conference has helped the
island recapture the confidence of the world. The conference is
in fact being seen as a sign to the wider world that Bali and
Indonesia are recovering, which might explain the buoyant and
optimistic mood of the meeting.