Tsunami-hit Asia appeals for tourists, but hesitations linger

Tsunami-hit Asia appeals for tourists, but hesitations linger
Eds: RESTORES dropped word "you" in graf 2; MINOR edits.[ AP
Photos[ By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN= Associated Press Writer=
SINGAPORE (AP) -

Tsunami-hit Asia appeals to hesitant tourists to return

Christopher Bodeen
Associated Press/Singapore

Tsunami-wracked Asia has a new appeal to would-be helpers:
Take a vacation.

"If you have not planned a visit, please consider booking a
trip. If you wish to make a difference, visit," the president of
the Bangkok-based Pacific Asia Travel Association, Peter de Jong,
said in a recent appeal to travelers.

Images of the killer waves crashing into Asian beach resorts
have badly spooked the tourists those areas rely so heavily upon
for income. The tsunami that took more than 150,000 lives
devastated Indonesia's Sumatra island, but also wrought havoc on
tourism-dependent coastal communities in Thailand, Sri Lanka and
the Maldives.

Perceptions may be more damaging to business than the actual
devastation to the resorts: Most are receiving visitors again and
even the worst-affected areas operators say they plan to be fully
up and running by Easter.

"The trend is again more people coming in. Now it's just a
matter of getting the right message out to the visitors," said
Ahmed Shaheed, government spokesman for the Maldives, where the
US$200 million tourism industry constitutes 33 percent of the
country's gross national product.

Across the region, tourism infrastructure was swamped,
crushed, swept out to sea -- but largely survived.

The Maldives was inundated by the Dec. 26 disaster, but 64 out
of 87 resorts are still in business, Shaheed said. Occupancy
rates that are usually near 100 percent are down by half, he
said.

In Thailand, resorts in the Khao Lak region were nearly wiped
out. In nearby Phuket, images shot by tourists of waves crashing
into resorts were among the most dramatic of the disaster. Yet
only 10 percent of rooms in the area are out of commission,
officials said.

Thousands of foreign tourists are among the dead in Thailand.
Travelers appear unwilling to visit areas so recently touched by
tragedy and where the aftermath is still being dealt with.

"People are avoiding the beach now," said Clama Rocky of
Eureka Travel in Singapore.

"There's just a worry about unpleasant things like coming
across dead bodies. It's not nice for the kids," she said.

Tourist arrivals at the airport in Bangkok, Thailand's
capital, are down 27 percent. Hotel occupancy rates in the
country's south -- usually around 80 percent at this time of year
- have fallen to as little as 10 percent.

The tsunami hit during the peak tourism season in Thailand,
when thousands of Europeans, many from Scandinavian countries,
flee winter for the balmy shores of the Indian ocean.

Cancellations have also hit Thailand's east coast resorts such
as Pattaya and Hua Hin, which were completely unaffected by the
tsunami. Thai tourism authorities say the drop-off could cost the
country's economy about $1 billion in 2005.

Regional carriers are responding to the decline by suspending
flights to resort areas.

SilkAir, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, has cut flights
to Phuket from three to two per day, and halved flights to the
nearby resort area of Krabi.

Air Asia, a Malaysia-based budget airline, has canceled daily
flights from Singapore to Phuket. Thai Airways plans to cancel
daily flights from Singapore to Phuket beginning Jan. 15.

"Bookings for the beaches in Thailand are about as close to
zero as they can get," said Kevin Lim, an agent with East Asia
travel in Singapore.

Although it suffered the largest loss of life, Indonesia's
tourism sector was relatively unaffected. Badly battered Aceh
province has long been isolated by civil conflict and the main
tourist draws of Bali and Lombok were well beyond the tsunami's
reach.

The devastation may actually be a boon to Bali: Large numbers
of travelers are now opting to vacation there instead of
Thailand, with Vietnam and Cambodia also picking up business,
said Eureka's Rocky.

India suffered more than 10,000 deaths in the tragedy, but its
tourism industry was largely unscathed.

In Sri Lanka, the tsunami damaged 56 hotels badly enough to
force their closure. Yet 243 remain open and "ready to welcome
tourists," said Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, CEO of hotel chain
Jetwing Eco Holidays.

Tourism workers say the best way people can help is to bring
tourists back and restart the local economy, Wijeyeratne said.

In the Maldives, only six resorts suffered extensive damage
and should be fully repaired in less than three months. The
islands suffered 82 deaths with 26 people missing, but resorts
suffered far less than outlying villages built more to provide
cover from pirates than from the sea.

Total rebuilding in tourism and related sectors such as
fishing will cost about $250 million, while damage to
infrastructure totals about $1.3 billion, Shaheed said.

Obtaining such funds will depend largely on how soon the
visitors return, he said.

"You can still have a good holiday in the Maldives," Shaheed
said. "And, if you wish, you can even contribute to recovery."

GetAP 1.00 -- JAN 10, 2005 16:28:04