Impact Of Bali Blast to Be Shortlived- Tourism Minister.October 5th 2005
INDONESIA Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr Jero Wacik is optimistic the Bali bombing impact on tourist arrivals to the country will be a short one.
Minister Wacik said: “A drop in arrival after a terrorist attack is understandable but in the case of Bali this time, I’m confident it will not be long; six months is the longest. We have seen no mass exodus and the hotels in Bali to date have reported their average occupancy remain high, up to 90 per cent.”
Mr Wacik said the government was putting great efforts to minimise the impact, including lobbying the governments of friendly countries not to impose travel bans on Indonesia.
The minister also opened a media centre at the Kuta Ina Beach Hotel one day after the bombing to assist international and domestic press in gathering accurate information on the development in the following days. Mr Wacik has appealed to the private sector to continue promoting the island.
Trade in Bali is preparing a three-month crash programme to speed up the recovery of Bali’s image as a favourite tourist destination. Co-ordinating minister for Economic Affairs, Mr Aburizal Bakrie, said: “The potential loss of tourist arrivals is up to 25 per cent, and this could reduce the GDP by 0.25 per cent to 0.30 per cent.”
Reports said the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Department had received no immediate travel advisories concerning the recent bombing. Meanwhile, countries where some of the victims came from said they were ready to help Indonesia fight terrorism.
This report was extracted from the TTG DAILY E Newsletter, sent daily by TTG Asia Pte Ltd.
