PATA conference opens as crisis hits tourism

PATA conference opens as crisis hits tourism

Rita A. Widiadana and Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

President Megawati Soekarnoputri opened on Monday a key Asia
Pacific travel conference on the resort island of Bali as the
region's tourism industry was being threatened by international
terrorism and a new deadly flu-like disease.

Some 972 delegates from 42 countries attended the opening
ceremony of the 52nd Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)
annual conference -- a surprising turnout -- as many other
international conferences in the region were canceled recently
due to the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

In her speech, Megawati acknowledged that acts of terrorism,
like the Oct. 12 Bali bomb blasts, had caused a serious blow to
the country's tourism sector, a major foreign exchange earner.

She said her government was determined to act against
terrorism.

However, she criticized foreign governments for reacting
excessively by imposing travel warnings against Indonesia
following the bombings, saying that such a move would harm the
country's economic life.

"Now we can see that such excessively protective policy, which
tends to be indicative of phobia, does not necessarily diminish
the threat of terrorism. Rather, it has become detrimental to
economic life," Megawati stated.

She did not name specific nations, but the governments of
Australia, Britain, and the U.S. have cautioned their citizens
against traveling to Indonesia.

Megawati also criticized disproportionate media reports that
often inflicted great losses on the Indonesian tourist industry.

"I would like to invite you to visit any part of Indonesia,
not only Bali, to see with your own eyes the living conditions of
our people," she lamented.

She said that the tourism sector also had a direct, positive
impact on small- and medium-scale enterprises.

"Tourism seems to function as a locomotive (for) poverty
eradication and the (improvement) of public welfare," she said.

Tourism, at present, is still the second-largest, non-oil and
gas foreign exchange earner for Indonesia after the textile and
garment industry. Before the Oct. 12 Bali blasts, tourism
generated US$ 5.4 billion in revenue, of which some 30 percent
came from Bali. In 2002, the revenue from tourism dropped to
$4.3 billion. Tourist arrivals to Indonesia dropped from 5.15
million visitors in 2001 to 5.03 million in 2002.

Foreign travelers are also now being discouraged from visiting
the region, perceived as the center of the SARS outbreak, which
has killed over 140 worldwide.

Analysts have said that the impact of SARS will be much more
damaging than that of the war in Iraq, which also scared foreign
travelers away amid fears of anti-Western sentiment.

Because of the war and SARS, the government of Indonesia has
lowered its revenue target from the tourism sector this year to
between $.27 billion and $3.2 billion this year, with the number
of foreign visitors likely to decline to between 3.9 million and
4.5 million.

Meanwhile, PATA president Peter de Jong urged members to play
an active role in resolving controversial issues plaguing the
industry.

"We must educate governments, industry and consumers in our
source markets about the facts and realities of each Asia Pacific
destination.

"This, in turn, will help governments, business partners and
our customers to make informed decisions about travel to and
through our region," said de Jong.

He stressed that terrorism had no boundaries and could strike
anyone, anytime, anywhere, even in Bali.

De Jong said that this year was the year of punishment for the
global tourism industry because of the terror threat and the
spread of SARS, particularly in the Asia Pacific region.

The PATA conference is expected to produce a blueprint on
crisis management for the travel and tourism industry.