Bird flu no deterrent to tourists, agency says

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).