Tourism to feel heat at the blast

Tourism to feel heat at the blast

Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After bouncing back slowly from a series of bomb attacks, the
nation's tourist industry may face another setback yet again,
following a deadly blast near the Australian Embassy.

Thursday's bombing was the latest blow to Indonesian tourism,
having weathered the severe impacts from similar attacks: the JW
Marriott Hotel attack on Aug. 5, 2003, in Jakarta, and the Oct.
12, 2002, Bali blasts.

"There will definitely be an impact on Indonesia. Not only in
Jakarta, where the incident happened, but also across the
country, as foreign tourists will now think twice about coming
here," said Meity Robot, deputy chairwoman of the Indonesian
Tourism Society.

"The tourist industry, such as hotel services, airlines,
travel agents, restaurants and so on, will feel the effect from
this over the next four months," she said.

The police confirmed that the explosion, which took place in
front of the embassy building, was caused by a car bomb.

Tourism, along with export textile products, is one of the
nation's main sources of revenue from non-oil and gas sector.
However, the industry has experienced various shocks in recent
years, although it was starting to recover.

The government has targeted foreign exchange revenues of
US$5.2 billion this year, mostly expected from foreign tourist
arrivals, up from the $4.5 billion booked in the previous year.

The 2004 target was based on the assumption that 5.1 million
foreign travelers would visit the country throughout the year.

As of July, foreign tourist arrivals reached 2.56 million, a
promising 31.2 percent increase from the same period last year,
during which 2 million overseas tourists visited the country.

However, doubts are now looming large that those targets were
feasible after the latest attack, Meity said.

"It's not easy for people, whoever they are, to forget a
horrible event as this. It will make our jobs of promoting
tourism a lot more difficult."

The explosion, which was presumably directed at the Australian
Embassy, would also compound the challenges ahead for the
industry, as Australian tourists make up a significant percentage
of foreign tourists each year.

In 2003, some 338,348 Australian holiday-goers visited the
country, according to the latest data from the Central Statistics
Agency (BPS).

Meanwhile, Minister of Culture and Tourism I Gede Ardika
expressed on Thursday a more optimistic perspective, saying the
target was still within reach, especially as the country had the
experience to cope with the situation.

"What is important is for the people here to remain calm ...
We must trust the authorities to do their tasks," said Ardika. He
added that, as long as the authorities reacted immediately and
properly, confidence would eventually return.