Bali's post-bombing woes continue

Bali's post-bombing woes continue

Bhimanto Suwastoyo, Agence France-Presse/Jakarta

The demise of a fledgling Indonesian airline shows how the
country, and especially its major resort island of Bali, is still
suffering from the after-effects of terrorism, the tsunami and
bird flu.

Less than three years after it was set up, Bali-based Air
Paradise International flew its last flight on Wednesday.

"I apologize to the people of Bali and those in the Bali
tourism (industry). Under these conditions, we are forced to halt
the operation of Air Paradise," Kadek Wiranatha, company chairman
and owner of the airline said when announcing the decision in
Bali on Wednesday.

He said the airline, which had concentrated on the Australian
market after closing its routes to Japan and South Korea a few
months ago, had immediately began to feel the pinch from the Oct.
1 attacks in Bali, with flight cancellations pouring in as early
as the morning after the blasts.

Wiranatha's statement clearly struck home.

"One flight less means fewer incoming tourists and multiplied
several times, the effect ... is quite big for Bali's tourism,"
said Alwi Bariya, vice chairman of the Bali chapter of the
Indonesian Tourism Association (ITA).

I Gede Wiratha, who heads the Bali chapter of the Indonesian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry and is also Wiranatha's brother,
said the recent series of calamaties that have befallen Indonesia
had undercut tourism.

Since the nighclub bombings in Bali in 2002 that killed 202
people, mostly foreign tourists, Indonesia has had to deal with
the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami which devastated northern Sumatra,
recurring outbreaks of bird flu and a fresh series of bomb
attacks, including Bali again.

"Air Paradise is a casualty, but not the only one, of the
series of misfortunes that has hit our country in recent times,"
Wiratha said.

He expressed pessimism that Bali's 7.7 percent 2005 growth
target could be met as 95 percent of its economy is generated by
the private sector which in turn is over 80 percent dependent on
businesses linked to tourism.

"Bali has no natural resources. It depends largely on
tourism," he said.

Bariya said "we are now feeling a drop of some 42 percent in
foreign tourist arrivals.

"Just take my company. From an average of 30 to 50 bookings
per day ... prior to the bombings, we are now down to about six
per day," he said of his travel agency.

He said that while Australian and East Asians were more
worried about terrorism, Europeans appeared more fearful of bird
flu which has killed at least seven people in Indonesia.

Although he could not immediately give a precise figure, he
said that the number of tourists from Australia to Indonesia has
fallen "drastically" since the October 1 Bali bombings which
killed 20 people plus the three bombers.

"Especially since the video was shown where this hooded
terrorist warned that Australia was among their targets for
terror, sentiment in Australia is certainly not in favor of
visiting Indonesia, including Bali, for the time being," Bariya
said.

"With the bird flu and the bombings, it is like we not only
fell from a ladder but we were hit by it as well."

Subroto, Vice President of the Indonesian Tourism Industry
Association, conceded the country's tourism industry was facing
dire times.

Everyone, and not only the government, "should work hard to
restore our good image and remedy ... problems of security and
other weaknesses," he said.