KL urges ASEAN to lift travel restrictions to save tourism from

KL urges ASEAN to lift travel restrictions to save tourism from
SARS

M. Jegathesan
Agence France-Presse
Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia on Friday pressed the Association for Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) to lift travel restrictions in a bid to promote
inter-ASEAN travel and put the struggling Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) hit tourism industry back on track.

"SARS has made us suffer so much. Even if we can overcome the
outbreak in the next one or two months, it will take a few more
months for confidence to travel to return," Abdul Kadir Sheikh
Fadzir, Malaysia's culture, arts and tourism minister said.

"This time ASEAN countries need to find a meaningful way to
cooperate. We need to tap the region's 500 million population. We
should remove travel restrictions and cut red-tape," Abdul Kadir
told the opening of the ASEAN National Tourism Organization's
meeting.

The outbreak of SARS in Asia has hit the key tourism industry
badly, forcing huge reductions in flights as visitors have stayed
away in droves.

Abdul Kadir lamented that numerous ASEAN resolutions to
promote inter-regional travel have been made in the past but had
not been followed through.

"We have been making so many resolutions about intra-ASEAN
travel but unfortunately, we have not been making any headway. I
think all of us must be blamed," he said.

The meeting, grouping government officials and the private
sector, is evaluating the impact of SARS on the industry and
seeking ways to overcome the crisis.

Abdul Kadir said Malaysia has been seriously hit by SARS with
sharp falls in tourists arrivals.

The country had hoped to record 15 million arrivals for 2003,
up from 13.2 million the previous year, with tourism its second
largest foreign exchange earner after manufacturer.

Such hopes now look completely unrealistic, with most hotels
reporting a near catastrophic fall in occupancy rates to between
25 and 30 percent last month and airlines cutting flights
drastically.

Abdul Kadir urged Indonesia, Philippines and Myanmar, in
particular, to lift their travel restrictions.

"We should consider travel within ASEAN as part of domestic
travel. I think we should not be selfish and encourage our people
to travel to another ASEAN countries," he said.

Abdul Kadir said tourists from outside of the region have been
discouraged by first the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S., then
the October Bali bombing and now SARS.

"Our tourism industry is being held ransom by these events.
Hence we need to simplify existing travel procedures," he said.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Tran Duc Minh, deputy secretary-general of the Jakarta-based
ASEAN secretariat on tourism, said the industry in Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam has been severely hit by SARS.

"There is an urgent need to promote intra-ASEAN travel to
restore the industry. The removal of travel restriction can spur
travel. We need to fight SARS together," he said.

Argus Salim Abdul Razak, president of the ASEAN Tourism
Association, said the group was working with the various
governments to find ways to encourage travel.

"The need is clear. We need to sustain travel. We are looking
at air and hotel discounts and other attractive packages for
tourists to travel within ASEAN," he said.