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.