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)