W. Sumatra invites foreign writers

PADANG, West Sumatra: The West Sumatra administration has invited 15 foreign writers to visit this province between April 16 and April 19 in a bid to revitalize tourism here.

Head of the marketing division of the provincial tourism, arts and culture office Darmansyah told Antara on Tuesday that through their writings, the special guests would be expected to tell the world that the province was a safe place for foreign tourists.

Tourism here declined following sporadic sectarian riots that shook the country recently.

Only 51,028 foreigners visited West Sumatra last year, a 40 percent drop from 85,043 in the previous year. Occupancy rates of star-rated hotels declined from 52.35 percent in 1997 to 34.52 in 1998. The province has 22 hotels with a total of 1,370 rooms.

The province, in cooperation with the Pacific Area Tourism Association (PATA), earlier invited two French travel writers.