Honeymooners shun Bali after carnage
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Bali bomb blast that claimed at least 190 lives has prompted many would-be honeymooners from Jakarta to cancel their trips to paradise island because of security concerns.
"I canceled my honeymoon to Bali once I heard about the bombing in Bali two weeks ago. I think the situation in Bali is not as fun as before the tragedy, not to mention the heightened security concerns," said Deborah Adriana, a resident of Tomang, West Jakarta, who is going to be married on Sunday.
Deborah said she had already gathered information from travel agencies about tourist destinations in Bali and had planned for all the costs of her honeymoon, before having to cancel the plans.
Instead of Bali, she now plans to travel to Pantara island in the Thousands Islands.
Similarly, two other would-be honeymooners, Erry and Santi, who will also get married on Sunday, said that they had planned to spend 10 days in Bali.
"We simply changed our itinerary to Lombok (island) instead," said Erry, a resident of Bintaro in Tangerang regency, who works as a lawyer.
Duma of the Byoma Tour and Travel agency said that more than 80 percent of honeymooners had canceled their trips to Bali in the aftermath of the bombing there.
In the two weeks since the bombing, Duma said only one couple had booked a flight for Bali, while before the attack between three and four honeymooners traveled to Bali every week through her agency.
Ari, a marketing officer for the Media Tour and Travel agency, said no one was traveling to Bali for leisure at the moment.
"Most of those who are traveling to Bali right now are going for business," said Ari.
Ari said ticket and hotel reservations for Bali had dropped by 70 percent.
"We used to get more than 100 people a month making reservations for Bali. But by the end of this month, we have only managed to book less than 30," said Ari.
Ari also said some groups of foreign tourists bound for Bali had canceled their trips following the explosion.
"We used to get bookings from groups of foreign tourists of between 15 and 25 people every week. But in the aftermath of the Bali bombing all the groups have changed their itineraries," Ari said.
Ari said some hotels and airlines in Bali had started to offer discounted rates.
Garuda is offering discounted rates of up to 40 percent for groups traveling to Bali and 25 percent for individuals.
"Even individual tourist now can enjoy discounted rates on tour packages, such as only Rp 1.2 million for accommodation at the Hard Rock Hotel in Kuta and airfare," Ari said, adding that before the bombing the accommodation alone hovered at about Rp 1.4 million per night.
However, Grace Utomo, the tour manager at Vaya Tour and Travel agency, said the impact of the Bali bombing could still not be determined.
"Demand in October and November is relatively low due to the fasting month of Ramadhan. We will be able to assess the impact of the Bali bombing in December," Grace said.