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.