Bird flu no deterrent to tourists, agency says

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Tourism Agency announced on Tuesday the number of foreign and domestic tourists to the capital has continued to rise despite concerns over terrorist attacks and reports of bird flu.

Agency head Yusuf Effendi Pohan said that even after the first confirmed human death from bird flu in Jakarta in May and the Oct. 1 Bali bombings, Jakarta continued to experience growth in its tourist numbers.

"We do not yet have an exact figure on the number of tourists in October, but I think the bombing had little effect, if any. But even during these difficult times we managed to reach our target of 100,000 foreign tourists and one million domestic tourists last month."

Yusuf said the number of foreign and domestic tourists arriving in Jakarta from January to August rose by about 10 percent to approximately 750,000 foreign tourists and 10 million domestic tourists from the same period last year.

Last year, some 1.06 million foreign tourists arrived in the city, up from 980,351 in 2003.

Yusuf said he was optimistic this year's target of 1.2 million foreign tourist arrivals and 12 million domestic tourist arrivals could be reached.

He said bomb scares and reports of bird flu could not frighten people away from the city.

"We have experienced lots of bombings and bomb threats. In fact, the recent Bali bombings could be seen as good for Jakarta because more foreign tourists might now prefer to come to Jakarta," he said.

Over the last several years, Jakarta has been hit by several bombings, including the Marriott Hotel attack that claimed 12 lives and the bombing outside the Australian Embassy that killed 10 people.

Bali has been rocked by two bombings -- the 2002 bombings that killed 202 people and the Oct. 1 attacks on two cafes and a restaurant in Jimbaran and Kuta that killed 23 people, including the three suicide bombers.

Yusuf also said the tourist industry in Jakarta was relatively stable because many people coming to the capital were arriving for business.

"Many foreign tourists come to Jakarta because they have business to do ... so they do not bring their families and therefore do not feel the risks as much."

Yusuf said the government was doing a good job of dealing with bird flu, indicated by the reopening of Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta, which had been closed down after a number of its birds tested positive for the virus.

The government announced an extraordinary situation in Jakarta in August because of the increasing number of suspected bird flu cases in the city. At least three people have been confirmed as having died from bird flu since July.

Yusuf said the city had introduced a number of promotional packages for tourists, including golf tournaments (from March to April), a marine festival (May-June), a shopping festival (June- July) and an international dining promotion (August-September).