RI foresees a hard year for tourism after Bali bombings

RI foresees a hard year for tourism after Bali bombings

Agence France-Presse, Nusa Dua, Bali

Indonesia foresees a hard year for tourism this year in the
wake of the horrific October bomb attacks in Bali, the top
welfare minister said Tuesday.

Yusuf Kalla said foreign exchange earnings from tourism are
expected to continue to drop from US$5 billion in 2001 to $3.4
billion in 2002 and to between $2.7 and $3.2 billion in 2003.

Foreigners visiting Indonesia, he said, are expected to number
a mere 3.9 to 4.5 million in 2003 compared to 4.8 million last
year. Indonesia had 5.15 million foreign tourist arrivals in
2001.

Addressing a meeting of the Consultative Group in Indonesia,
the country's main donor group, Kalla said the terrorist attack
in Bali threatened the viability of the tourist industry, raised
shipping costs and affected the overall investment climate.

For Bali itself, the impact was likely to worsen in the next
few months.

Kalla said that after a brief surge in tourist arrivals at the
end of last year, the figure had slumped again with hotel
occupancy back to below 20 percent for many establishments.

The consensus of hoteliers was that these occupancy rates
would not improve much over the next couple of months. "If hotel
occupancy rates do not recover we may begin to see significant
layoffs by the second semester," the minister said.

As part of a recovery plan for Bali, there would be efforts to
reduce the threat of terrorism by improving national security and
efforts to help the Balinese through various programs.

Security would be improved in and around Bali and other major
tourist destinations.

Kalla said the government plans to offset slumping tourism in
the island by promoting the holding of international events there
and to speed up local infrastructure projects.