RI steps up efforts to attract regional tourists

RI steps up efforts to attract regional tourists

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian inbound tour operators are stepping
up marketing efforts to attract tourists from the Asia Pacific
region as long haul flights become unattractive in the aftermath
of the terrorist attack on the United States, a senior executive
said.

"We have to immediately focus on marketing to the Asian region
because we can no longer rely on long haul markets," Inbound Tour
Operators Club (ITOC) chairman Arisaldi Kumarga told The Jakarta
Post over the weekend.

He explained that long haul flights from Europe and America to
Asia or vice versa have become unattractive for travelers amid a
global fear of air travel following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack
using hijacked planes in the U.S..

Two hijacked airplanes were flown into the two towers of the
World Trade Center in New York, reducing the buildings to a
massive pile of rubble.

Despite predictions that the global tourism industry will
suffer a slump in the aftermath of the attack, a glimmer of hope
survives as Asian tourists revert their attention back within the
region for their holiday plans.

The five-star Bali Hyatt hotel's public relations manager
Anastasia Lijadi said the terrorism had caused tourists from
Japan and Korea to avoid U.S. tourism destinations such as Guam
and Hawaii.

"In the period of a few days after the attack, many Japanese
tourists canceled their trips to Guam or Hawaii and flew to Bali
instead," Anastasia told the Post in Bali.

She said Bali Hyatt's representative office in Japan had been
given instructions to provide more information on Bali to the
potential tourists to make them more aware of attractions on the
island.

Arisaldi said the Jakarta Tourism Board, along with
representatives from the Jakarta city administration, the
Association for Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies and ITOC,
was scheduled to go to Singapore on Monday to convince
Singaporeans that travel to Jakarta and Indonesia as a whole was
safe.

"We will also participate in the Singapore Travel Mart in
October to promote inter-Asian or inter-ASEAN travel," he added.

Separately, Bali Tourism Board secretary-general Adnyana
Sudibya said that the attacks on the U.S. had not had a
significant impact on Bali's tourism industry.

"Of course there were several minor cancellations due to the
market's panic and confusion, but it only lasted a few days.

"In fact, there is a 5 percent increase in foreign visitors to
Bali this month compared to the same period last year," Adnyana
said, without providing exact figures.

Adnyana said that he believed the terrorist attacks would
force many countries to strengthen security measures at airports
and on flights, which in the long run, would make people feel
more comfortable taking overseas trips.

Indonesia has to do the same thing to attract tourists, he
said.

"With heavy and reliable security measures implemented in
airports and on flights, more people will be prepared to take
leisure trips to tourism destinations," he said.

Arisaldi said it was not yet known how severely the U.S.
attacks would impact upon the Indonesian tourism industry, but a
slowdown in the number of tourists to Indonesia could be expected
in the coming months.

"It's not just to Indonesia, people everywhere have become
apprehensive about traveling. They want to see what will happen
next," he said, explaining that the possibility of retaliation by
the United States could worsen the situation.

People are carefully watching what the Indonesian people will
do should a U.S. attack against Afghanistan be launched, Arisaldi
said.

Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population and,
although largely moderate, Muslim extremist groups have emerged
in recent years.

These groups have threatened to raid U.S. facilities and evict
U.S. citizens if Washington moved to attack Afghanistan.(tnt/zen)