Tourists cancel trip to S. Sulawesi

Tourists cancel trip to S. Sulawesi

PALU, Central Sulawesi: Hundreds of European tourists have canceled their plans to visit Central Sulawesi due to the rising number of anti-U.S. demonstrations protesting the U.S. military attacks on Afghanistan and threats to expel foreigners in Indonesia.

"We can't do anything because they canceled their trips over fears for their safety," Ary Wowor, head of the Central Sulawesi office of the Indonesian Association of Travel Bureaus, said on Saturday.

He said that tourists canceling their trips were from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.

Due to the cancellation, several travel agencies offering tour packages have suffered huge losses, Wowor said.

"In value I don't know, but I'm sure their losses could reach tens of millions of rupiah," he said.

He expressed concern that the demonstrations would severely affect the tourist industry, which has started improving after Megawati Soekarnoputri became president, replacing Abdurrahman Wahid.

"If this condition goes on, it will be difficult for tourism in the country to recover," he said, predicting that several travel agencies will go bankrupt. -- Antara