Reviving tourism

Reviving tourism

The black day of Sept. 11, 2001 affected Indonesian tourism, as the arrival of American and European tourists dropped. Then, just when tourism was about to revive, Bali was bombed on Oct. 12 last year.

The bomb blast buried all hopes that Indonesian tourism would recover. Many countries issued travel advisories to their citizens, warning against travel to Indonesia.

Now, when Bali is relatively quiet, the fear of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has rocked the world. Westerners are now reluctant to travel to East Asia.

Amid the sluggishness of the Indonesian tourism industry, the 52nd Conference of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) opened in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Monday. The three-day conference, which involves 972 delegates from 42 countries, has shown the world that Bali, and Indonesia in general, is safe for tourists.

The success of the PATA conference would be a positive point for the development of Indonesian tourism. However, we have many things to do. We must work harder to revive the tourism sector, which generates huge foreign exchange revenues.

Our tourist industry needs a complete overhaul. We should learn from Singapore -- which has limited attractions and destinations -- for its achievement in attracting more tourists.

We have many more tourist attractions than Singapore, but we have obviously failed to manage and market them properly.

-- Republika, Jakarta