Bali's tourism faces gloomy future
Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hard hit by the recent horrific bomb strikes, Bali's tourism industry is expected to experience a sharp fall in earnings over the next two months, an official from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture has said.
"The losses will be enormous because usually tourist arrivals reach their peak in the fourth quarter," Udin told a press briefing held jointly with industry players on Tuesday.
He added that tourist arrivals in the fourth quarter usually accounted for 30 percent of annual total arrivals, which reached about five million for the whole country and some 1.5 million for Bali.
According to the ministry, tourists' length of stay in Indonesia averaged 10 days while their average daily expenditure was close to US$100.
"So, based on the figures, you can roughly calculate yourself Bali's potential loss in revenue over the next two months or so," he added.
Last year, according to government data, Bali -- with around 1,400 hotels and almost 750 restaurants -- generated some $1.4 billion in foreign exchange earnings from the tourism sector, or more than 25 percent of the national foreign exchange earnings from the sector, which stood at $5.4 billion.
The bomb attacks that leveled two bars in the country's most popular resort island last weekend -- and left close to 200 people dead -- shattered the island's long-standing image as a safe haven for holidaymakers from all over the world.
Until the bomb attacks, while visitors avoided many parts of Indonesia because of various security concerns, Bali remained a favorite destination for holidaymakers worldwide. However, the bombs have definitely turned things on their head.
The devastating blasts came at a time when Bali was beginning to recover from the impact of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. Hotel bookings in Bali dropped more than 50 percent following the attacks.
Although there have been no exact figures as yet on the number of canceled fights to the island, the immediate impact is already apparent in the main tourist areas of the islands.
Taxis are queuing idle, restaurants are half empty and hotels -- already suffering from en masse booking cancellations -- are offering major discounts.
Government data says that international arrivals averaged 4,650 per day in the two-week period before the Oct. 12 attack. On Oct. 14, international arrivals rose to 5,219, probably thanks to the arrival of police officers, journalists and medical personnel from many countries. On Oct. 15, arrivals dropped sharply to 2,833.
George Benney, chairman of the Jakarta International Hotel Association (JIHA) and a member of the Indonesia-Australia Council, also painted a gloomy outlook for the tourism industry following the blasts.
"It's too early to estimate the potential losses for Bali's tourism industry. But here in Jakarta, cancellations of hotel orders have already been taking place, from Malaysia, Australia and other countries.
"I've also heard that many foreigners in Jakarta are planning to leave the country," Benney said, adding that all hotel associations would hold a meeting to assess the problem today.
Tourism expert Nobert Willem Van Coenen painted an even bleaker picture of Bali's tourism prospects, saying the impact of the bombings was so damaging that even five years would not be enough time for the island's tourism sector to fully recover.
"Since the island has been known as the country's center of tourism, the tragedy will make the international community think a thousand times before coming to visit Bali, or other holiday destinations in Indonesia," Van Coenen was quoted as saying by Antara in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu on Tuesday.
He recalled that Cyprus needed 20 years to recover from the impact of a terrorist attack.
The Cypriot tourism industry was badly hurt in 1974 when a bombing occurred that killed many tourists. And the industry did not manage to fully recover until after 1994," he said.