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.