JP/18/JAPAN

JP/18/JAPAN

Tourist industry urged work hard to win back Japanese market

Wahyoe Boediwardhana
The Jakarta Post/Denpasar

The Dec. 26 tsunami that struck Aceh and North Sumatra in
Indonesia and other countries in Asia and Africa, including
Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, has had a dramatic impact on
tourism in affected areas.

Despite the fact that Aceh and North Sumatra are miles away
from Bali, Indonesia's top holiday destination, the tsunami
effect on the tourist island has been very significant,
especially on the number of tourist arrivals.

Many people involved in the island's tourist and hospitality
industry are very anxious about the tsunami's impact on their
businesses. They are afraid the economy will sharply drop,
similar to the post-bombing period in 2002.

They have a point since many potential visitors and major
overseas travel agents, especially from Japan and other large
markets, receive no explanations or up-to-date information on the
most recent situation in Bali and other tourist destinations in
Indonesia.

"It was expected that the Indonesian as well as the Balinese
provincial authorities would immediately inform international
travel agents and tourism authorities about the situation," said
Takimoto, one of a group of representatives of 106 major Japanese
travel agencies, as well as journalists, during a recent study
tour of Bali organized by Bali-based Air Paradise.

The airline organized the four-day educational tour in order
to provide first-hand information on tourist activities on Bali.

"Many clients in Japan lodged questions about the safety of
visiting beach resorts on Bali. Most of them did not see any
safety system along beaches that could prevent the area from
possible tsunami-like disasters," he said.

Junaidi Januar, vice chairman of Bali Rasa Sayang, the Bali
Tourism Committee for the Japanese market, regretted the fact
that the Indonesian and Balinese governments were slow to send
out precise information on whether the tsunami disaster also
affected Bali and other areas in Indonesia.

"Almost all Japanese visitors raised similar questions and
were worried about possible post-tsunami health outbreaks," he
said.

So far, Japanese people have obtained information on the
tsunami from international television stations such as CNN
International and BBC World and international wire services like
Reuters and AFP.

"Japanese tourists have been very cautious about security,
safety and health issues. Although Japan has been frequently hit
by tsunamis, its people would prefer to cancel their trip to any
affected area if the country could not guarantee their safety,"
Junaidi said.

Potential visitors have frequently heard about outbreaks of
cholera in Aceh and North Sumatra and other possible health
problems caused by thousands of unburied, decomposing bodies.

"These issues are very sensitive to Japanese tourists," he
maintained.

The Indonesian government was considered too slow to inform
the wider world about the real situation in the country. "The
governments and the tourism authorities of Thailand and Malaysia
promptly advised their counterparts internationally that their
countries were taking serious measures to deal with the effect of
the tsunami," he said.

Roy Y. Hasegawa, director of operations of PT Japan Travel
Bureau (JTB), revealed that Bali was still attractive to many
Japanese visitors and, therefore, its security and safety must be
properly maintained.

Hasegawa pointed out that based on data printed by Kazumitsu
Konishi, general manager of Air Paradise in Japan, around 70
percent of female Japanese tourists preferred to spend their
holiday in Bali as compared to other destinations like Singapore,
Thailand, Australia, South Korea, the United States and European
countries.

About 35 percent of Japanese tourists to Bali are twenty-
something females and males, 28 percent are in their 30s and the
remainder are in their 40s and 50s.

The spending power of Japanese visitors to Bali is quite
considerable. Some 35 percent of Japanese visitors spend between
US$500 and $1,000, and 20 percent around $1,000 to $1,500 per
five-to-six-day stay.

Gede Nurjaya, head of Bali Tourism Agency, responded that the
Bali governor had informed the international world that the
island of Bali was quite far from Aceh (about a three-hour
flight).

The four-day educational tour was expected to provide clear
and precise information to the Japanese tourist industry as well
as the country's media about the actual situation in Bali, which
hopes to attract at least 1.7 million tourists in 2005.

However, the road is still very rough and a lot effort must be
made by both the island's tourist industry and the provincial
government in a sincere attempt to convince Japanese visitors --
as well as holidaymakers from other countries -- that Bali is
still worth a visit.