Tourist industry places hopes on Bali Travel Mart

By I. Christianto

NUSA DUA, Bali (JP): Bali, Indonesia's leading tourist desti nation, is set to invigorate the country's damaged travel industry after widespread reports of unrest and political instability.

The island of gods will host the first annual Bali Travel Mart (BTM), which will be officially opened on Tuesday. The project aims to reintroduce the island as one of the most popular destinations in the world, as well as the archipelagic nation as a whole as an attractive tourist destination.

BTM executive chairman Maman Sunarsa said here on Monday that Indonesia needed to restore its image after sporadic acts of violence across the country.

"We must declare that we still exist. We chose Bali, because we have to admit that the island is more popular. This event will also prove that Bali is safe," he said.

Head of the provincial office of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Luther Barrung, said Indonesia could take up to four years to restore its image in the tourist industry.

"But Bali may need shorter time since during the January-April period this year, the island recorded a significant increase, of 28 percent, in the number of foreign tourist arrivals among 11 points of entry," he said.

Japanese tourists had appeared again as the major market, replacing Australia since the unfavorable media reports of a cho lera outbreak in 1995, he said.

Just like other parts of Indonesia, foreign tourist arrival numbers in Bali declined last year. But the figure was much less compared to Jakarta, where overseas travelers traditionally initiate their visit to Indonesia.

Sunarsa said the recent general election and the ongoing electoral process had also proved that the democratic activities in the country did not provoke social unrest as earlier feared.

Several areas in Indonesia have been shaken by a series of outbreaks of ethnic and sectarian violence in recent months, killing scores of people. After former president Soeharto stepped down in May last year, political instability and ethnic violence led to a dramatic drop in international tourist arrivals to Indonesia for the first time in a decade. In 1998, a 16.4 percent decline in tourist arrivals meant only 4.3 million tourists visited the country.

"Since the elections have passed peacefully without reports of unrest as earlier feared, we expect to see increasing visitors again in the coming years," said Sunarsa.

He said BTM had a short-term target to introduce Indonesia was as an appropriate destination.

"In the longer term, the country's tourist sectors will also be promoted."

BTM will be held until June 26 in Nusa Dua. Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Marzuki Usman is scheduled to open the event at Kuta Center in Kuta.

As of Monday, 241 buyers from 28 countries and 200 local sellers had registered to participate in the event. The organizer has invited 49 media representatives, including 21 overseas media representatives, to cover the event's three activities; an expo, a seminar and a travel exchange event.

Sunarsa estimated the event had a total budget of some Rp 10 billion (approximately US$1.4 million).

"Usually we can see the result of such an event, particularly the realization of negotiations between sellers and buyers to bring travelers to Indonesia, in about three months to one year, depending on the originating countries," he said.