SARS, terrorism to cast shadow over Asia Pacific tourism in 2004
SARS, terrorism to cast shadow over Asia Pacific tourism in 2004
Agence-France Presse, Nusa Dua, Bali
Tourism officials in the region on Sunday aired worries that tourism in the region will face another difficult year ahead amid worries about health issues and the threat of terrorism.
"We predict that there will be about a five percent decline in tourism business in the whole Asia Pacific region," chairman of the Thai Tourism authority, Auggaphol Brickshawana, said on the sidelines of a regional meeting here.
Brickshawana, who also chaired the meeting of the Tourism Working Group of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in this key Indonesian tourism resort island, said that Thailand, another major international tourist destination, would also suffer.
"For next year, we estimate that there will be one million less foreign tourists than last year... we stand to loose at least some US$700,000 next year," he said.
He blamed health issues such as the SARS and "the current terrorism crisis" for the difficulties to be faced by tourism in the region.
South Korea's director for international tourism, Yoo Byung Hyuk, said he hoped his country would receive next slightly more tourists than this year's some five million visitors.
He also said that health issues and terrorism worries were high on the list of reasons behind weak or stagnant tourism in the region.
"The issue of terrorism, especially, has overwhelmed the meeting," he said, adding that countries in the region still had "a lot of homework to do" including boosting cooperation between countries to fight the threat of terrorism.
Host Indonesia, expects about the same number of tourists to visit the country as this year, Indonesian Tourism and Culture Ministry spokesman Jaka Setiawan said.
Indonesia had been expecting some 4.6 million tourists this year. But Setiawan added "only about three million foreign tourists have arrived this year up until end of November."
Deputy of the Indonesian tourism office's foreign cooperation department, Thamrin Bachri, said he hoped another two million foreign tourists would come to Indonesia in the last two months of the year which is a peak season for Indonesian tourism, the state Antara news agency said.
Indonesian tourism is still limping following a series of devastating blows dealt by health concerns and several terrorist bombings. Blasts in the international resort island of Bali in Oct. 12, 2002 left more than 200 people dead.
Tourism has traditionally been a major revenue earner for Indonesia. But the sector has taken a beating since the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States, when the number of travelers to Asia dropped sharply.
Participants from most of APEC's 21 member countries are attending the three-day meeting that will wind up on Monday.