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.