Regional security haunts tourism - lesson from Bali

Regional security haunts tourism - lesson from Bali

Fitri Wulandari and Rita A. Widiadana, Nusa Dua, Bali

The tourist industry in Asia and the Pacific is vulnerable to
global and regional security threats, including terrorist attacks
and the spread of endemic diseases as it lacks the ability to
properly tackle any possible crisis.

Bert van Walbeek, managing director of Thailand-based Winning
Edge, said that crisis management in the tourism industry was
still very new.

On the other hand, the industry has been fragile to any
security problems.

"Crisis occurs at anytime, at anyplace in the world. Problems
remain because we don't have any preparations to combat it," he
said.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attack in the United States, the Bali
bombing, the war in Iraq and the outbreak of the flu-like Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) had combined to change the
world and the regional tourism industry.

Citing the Bali terrorist attack as an example, Pacific Asia
Travel Association (PATA) president Peter de Jong said that
nobody in Bali or the world expected to experience such a
tragedy.

"Everybody was shocked and unprepared to immediately handle
the aftermath of the bombing."

Participants at the PATA conference in Bali are expected to
learn valuable lessons from the Bali bombing incident and how the
international community joined together to help the struggling
Indonesian government face the crisis.

The World Tourism Organization (WTO) described the Bali
bombing as: "The biggest problem confronted by any country or
single destination in the history of world tourism."

The bombing, both preceded and followed by increased worldwide
terrorist activity and expectations and the reality of war in
Iraq all led to heightened concerns about safety and security.

John King, managing director of Global Tourism and Leisure in
Australia, said Bali is the locomotive of Indonesian tourism.

Before the bombing, the Indonesian tourist industry generated
around US$5.1 billion in foreign exchange revenue in 2001, 30
percent of which was contributed by Bali. Around 24 percent of
the 5.4 million foreign visitors entered Indonesia through Bali.

In the immediate aftermath of the bombing, the Indonesian
government moved quickly to implement a National tourism recovery
program including "rescue, rehabilitation, normalization and
expansion."

"I should mention that in the case of Bali, there was an ad-
hoc crisis and issues management process brought together," King
said.

"Everybody was willing to help Bali and Indonesia to recover
its image as one of the world's tourist destinations," King
added.

With the help of International consultants and donor agencies,
the government of Indonesia has set both short- and long-term
recovery programs.

However, political instability is cited by many countries as a
deterrent for travel to Bali or Indonesia with safety and
security being raised as prominent issues that need to be
addressed.

There is a wide-spread view that Bali is now seen as an
integral part of Indonesia, whereas previously it had been seen
as being apart from Indonesia.

"There was, however the strong view across all markets that
there should be strong emphasis on Bali still being Bali," he
added.

In regards to travel advisories imposed by governments,
including the Australian government, King said a survey indicated
that prospective consumers in Australia were less concerned about
the existence of travel advisories.

"They were more concerned about actual information being
available regarding the availability of adequate medical
facilities and actual steps taken to ensure safety and security,
than they were about the existence of a travel advisory."

Responding to the Bali bombing tragedy, a number of
international donor countries and agencies were ready to lend
their help.

Nicholas Mawdsley, a consultant at the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP), said that the UNDP had worked closely
with the World Bank, USAID, AusAID and other agencies to minimize
the socio-economic impact in the aftermath of the terrorist
attack.

"The Bali bombing has tremendous impacts on the socio-economic
condition of the island," Mawdsley said.

The first steps are to consolidate the existing donor
initiatives to support the most vulnerable, to strengthen support
for on-going monitoring and assessment, to ensure social safety
net mechanisms are in place and to restore necessary conditions
for sustainable recovery in Bali and beyond.

For short-term social and economic recovery, USAID has
provided more than US$1 million, AusAId Health Sector Support
with A$10.5million, UNDP Community Recovery Program (US$300,000)
and AusAID Bali Rehabilitation Fund (A$750,000).

For long-term programs the World Bank would provide $28
million and the Japanese government would provide US$20 million
for economic recovery and social protection.

"We will again make a new assessment on the impact of the Bali
blast this month in order to minimize the economic impact on Bali
and its people as well as people outside Bali," he said.