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