Government urged to pool haze information

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia needs a coordinated body to issue statements about the haze to prevent tourism falling in unaffected areas, says a tourism executive.

Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board chairwoman, Wuryastuti Sunaryo, said Saturday that almost all the related government agencies were issuing their own, different, statements about the haze.

Issuing different information could give the public the perception that the haze problem had hit the entire country, she said.

"A single official spokesperson is urgently required," she said after attending the opening ceremony of an Indonesian Women in Travel congress.

She said that appointing a public relations officer to specifically handle information about the haze problem would prevent misleading or conflicting information being issued.

At present, even areas unaffected by the haze had been affected by people's reactions to the problem, she said, adding that most cancellations by overseas travelers and tour groups were to areas outside Kalimantan and Sumatra.

Haze caused by the prolonged bush fires and forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan has become a major threat to the country's tourism industry.

Several countries in Europe have advised their residents not to visit Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries because of the haze.

The tourism board acknowledged that the haze problem would make it harder for Indonesia to meet its targeted number of 5.7 million foreign tourist arrivals this year.

Severe bush fires and forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra have not only affected air quality on both islands, but also in neighboring Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Approximately 600,000 hectares of land have been burnt as a result of fires set mostly by farmers and plantation companies to clear land for agriculture.

Like Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are also optimistic that they will meet their foreign tourist arrival targets.

The Singapore Tourist Promotion Board said recently that Southeast Asia's suffocating smog was casting an ominous shadow over the region's US$26 billion tourism industry.

Tuti said that some 1,000 people had canceled their participation in a conference in Singapore.

Malaysia had also seen many cancellations, she added.

"Airlines in Indonesia have asked me to do something to save the tourist industry and to prevent cancellations. But I am just a channel. We have to prepare the message, and that's the urgency of the official spokesperson."

"We can't blame coverage of the haze in the Southeast Asian region on international television stations reporting that in addition to Sumatra and Kalimantan, smog has also snuck into Java, Bali and Lombok.

"That's why we need a spokesperson to counter this. We can't just wait for misleading news and deny it. We have to keep providing updated information," she said.

In a related development, president of PT Vista Express Tour and Travel, Julia Ch. Noordraven, called on travel agencies to propose rerouting tour groups that would otherwise cancel their trips to Indonesia.

"We have to offer other destinations in Java, Bali, Lombok, Irian Jaya or other areas in Indonesia unaffected by the haze. I have succeeded in rerouting some 400 Europeans planning to cancel their plans to visit Indonesia," she said.

She said that travel agencies must not deal with just commercial affairs but must extend well-maintained services. "Don't impose any additional fees for the rerouting. Travelers are very keen on consumer protections."

Noordraven said that her experience had shown that most travelers would not refused to have their trip rerouted. (icn)