Lombok waits for tourists to return

Lombok waits for tourists to return

By Grace Segran

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara (JP): The people of Lombok still
speak of the tragic events as though they took place yesterday.
What happened on Jan 17 to Jan. 19, 2000, they say, was a
terrible mistake which will forever be etched in their memories
as three days of disbelief and shame.

One cannot help but notice the lonely streets and empty
beaches, sadly devoid of tourists. Many shops remain closed
because they are unable to sustain the day-to-day running of the
business. Only those shopkeepers who can afford it dare to remain
open. And they still hope for the best.

Little huts have sprung up along the main roads of Mataram,
Ampenan and Senggigi. These houses are rest stops for the
recently formed vigilante corps who provide surveillance for
specific areas. While it is a good thing, it is also a grim
reminder of what happened two months ago. The ronda
(surveillance) teams are said to be controlled by the police and
run under the authority of the village chief.

Like most of the people we spoke to, the driver who took us to
the airport was quick to inform us that it was "outside influence
that did this to Lombok", thus shifting blame.

"We are peaceful people. They cited religion as a noble cause
and roped in youths and other vulnerable people into their evil
plans."

The renegades also apparently regret their impetuous actions.
They realized their blunder when they saw what it had done to
tourism. It was likely that they and their loved ones suffered
too when they lost their ability to earn money because the
tourists stayed away.

Food and beverage manager of Sheraton Senggigi Wolfgang
Boettcher said 30,000 to 40,000 people in Lombok, each supporting
an average of six people, were directly involved in the tourist
industry.

Some left Lombok soon after the riots to look for jobs
elsewhere, others returned to their homes in places such as
Surabaya and Java. However, 95 percent still live in Lombok,
waiting for the tourists to return.

Room occupancy in the major hotels hovers around 12 percent
at the moment. Future bookings look better.

The Oberoi, a boutique hotel located in Tanjung, in the
northern part of the island was virtually untouched by the
rioters. But its occupancy rate plunged to zero after the riots
when tourists avoided Lombok like the plague.

Front desk manager of the Oberoi Rudi Baihaqi was pleased to
announce 15 percent of rooms were occupied; February averaged a
mere 5 percent. He said April looked brighter with bookings of
about 30 percent, although during the same period last year they
sold 56 percent of the rooms. He predicted occupancy of 50
percent in July, six months after the riots.

Holiday Inn Senggigi, a four-star family-oriented hotel, has 9
percent of its rooms occupied at the moment. Food and beverage
director Richard Mehr said: "We expect the market to pick up
again within the next four months to about 30 percent to 40
percent occupancy by July. With help from the government, the
tourism ministry and tour operators, the hotels should all be
able to achieve these results."

Mehr felt that a concerted effort should be provided by all
the players in the industry to boost tourism. Hotels tried
promoting their own establishments but the individual efforts did
not make an impact.

The Senggigi Business Association, consisting of the big as
well as small players, was recently formed with this aim in mind.
There are now more aggressive campaigns to tell people that
Lombok is safe. At the beginning of March, they invited 100
journalists to see for themselves that Lombok is ready to receive
tourists.

Despite the gloom, Senggigi Beach Hotel opened its 16 luxury
villas early this month. It is optimistic that business will pick
up. To lure the domestic market, the hotel is offering its
standard room for Rp 399,000 including all meals.

The restaurants on Senggigi were rather excited about the
upsurge in tourist numbers in the past week or so.

"Business is good," says the waitress at the Bayan restaurant,
even though there were only two customers at the restaurant at
lunchtime. What she meant, of course, was that it is doing much
better than a month ago.

Asmara's owner Suhaili said the restaurant never closed after
the riots. At the time, the clientele was mostly expatriates, a
handful of tourists and some locals. He noticed an increase in
visitors in the past week.

The people who suffered most were the small vendors selling
souvenirs, like woven bracelets and pearls. Asked about the
situation, they shook their heads sadly and said, "We're
confused. There's no money to buy food." For days, they may not
make a single sale. And if they do sell anything, their margins
may be large but the absolute amount is small.

What happened was a mistake, say the people of Lombok, and not
representative of them and their culture. They do not want it to
happen again.

Lombok island is peaceful. Hotel rooms are going for a song
and you can have the entire beach to yourself. But it will not
remain like this for too long. Now is probably the best time to
visit to take advantage of attractive room rates, special
promotions and, best of all, to enjoy the island before overseas
tourists start flocking back.