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.