http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/GL22Ae01.html
Christmas in Bali not so jolly By Gary LaMoshi DENPASAR, Bali - Following a stellar 2004-05 holiday season that began a record-shattering rebound from the October 2002 terrorist bombings, Bali's tourism industry is having a humbug Christmas this year. The October 1 suicide attacks on popular restaurants in Jimbaran and Kuta have plunged Bali's US$3 billion tourism industry, providing 60% of family incomes on this island of nearly a million people, into depression. The latest bombings killed fewer than two dozen innocents, compared with more than 200 in 2002, but that hasn't stopped the slide. "The body count is irrelevant," said Jeremy Allan, author of Bali Blues (Media Makara), a new book about the 2002 bombings with a postscript on the 2005 attacks. "The images on television screens were similar, though this time the iconic image was a face cut to ribbons by shrapnel, not a body livid with third degree burns. It was enough to make anyone change their travel plans." Bali Hotels Association (BHA) chairman Michael Burchett reports, "Bookings for the holiday season are just below last year's levels, but ahead of 2002." Travelers seem to be delaying decisions, "so we are expecting a lot of late pick up." said Burchett, also general manager of the Conrad Bali. He added that a lack of flights also hurts. "The airlines do not seem to have the same confidence that we do in Bali, and they have not increased capacity as they have done in past years during this busy period. It appears the demand is there." But windshield surveys of prime tourist areas Sanur, Kuta and Nusa Dua indicate the holiday statistics, barring drastic late pick up, will be as grim as the rainy season skies. Citing reports from colleagues around the island, a veteran star hotel general manager reports room occupancy is running below 40%, compared to virtually full houses a year ago. That figure is consistent with overseas arrivals for November, down 43% year-on-year. (December statistics won't be available until next month.) Worse, the arrivals gap grew from 37% in October, indicating that the longer people thought about the suicide attacks, the fewer chose Bali. Air Paradise lost As after the 2002 bombing, Indonesian visitors are softening the blow. But arrivals from Bali's top three overseas markets - Japan, Australia and Taiwan - accounting for more than half of 2005 arrivals before the bombings, fell nearly 60% from November last year. Unofficial flag carrier Air Paradise, which lifted spirits as well as tens of thousands of Australians on package holidays after the 2002 bombs, shut down last month. Visitor numbers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are less scary, off a shade below 40% from last year. Cheap airfares help, especially for Malaysia where Malaysia Air and Air Asia go head-to-head. But the comments of one holidaymaker from Singapore may indicate a trend. "I was in London during the bombings there, and you can't let those things scare you," Rehana Sarwar said, lounging in the nearly empty, football pitch-sized pool at the Hard Rock Hotel with her five-year-old son. "I've always dreamed of coming to Bali." So she came in October, terrorists be darned, she said, adding, "I couldn't get a booking to Phuket [in Thailand]." Just as Bali benefited from the December 2004 tsunami that hit rival resorts in the Indian Ocean, those destinations stand to gain now from Bali's woes. Bali's stunning recovery in just over two years following the 2002 bombings defied experts who predicted the island would need 10 years or more. Optimists, such as authoritative website Balidiscovery.com, point out that this November's foreign arrivals of 62,705 are nearly double the 31,497 of November 2002. "The impact of the incident on October 1 has not been at the same level as 2002," BHA's Burchett said, "and recovery is expected to be much quicker. We believe, as most other countries that have experienced the same challenges, that the world is a very different place, and that the traveling public will not be intimidated by the criminals who act in this way." Target market? One terrorist incident meant Bali had fallen victim to an unfortunate global trend, but a second set of attacks suggest that Bali is a preferred target. Burchett vehemently rejects that argument: "We feel that at times Bali is unfairly singled out by the press, and given overexposure in exaggerated reports." But Haji Bambang, the head of Kuta's minority Muslim community recognized worldwide for his heroism rescuing victims of 2002 blasts, observes, "Bali is a perfect place for [Islamic terrorists] to send their message." Even a bomb in Jakarta doesn't get nearly the global attention of a blast among Bali's polyglot of international tourists. Furthermore, terrorists (and many Indonesians) commonly believe foreigners and Bali's Hindu majority suffer most from attacks and their aftermath, forgetting Bali's many Muslims, such as Haji Bambang, working in tourism. Recognizing their situation requires concerted action, Bali's tourism stakeholders held a two-day meeting earlier this month to revamp the Bali Tourism Board, the industry's public-private umbrella organization. Among other things, delegates voted for research into the island's unique selling proposition. But market repositioning is unlikely to change terrorists' perceptions. When author Allan, a longtime Jakarta resident, moved to Bali to begin work on Bali Blues in November 2002, he assured his mother back in Canada that "Bali is now the safest island on earth". After this year's attacks, Allan told his mother Bali was still safe but admits, "In 2003 my friends and I would say, 'One more bomb and we are out of here.' Now, we say, 'How long till the next one'?" For Bali to recover, Burchett said, "People need to have confidence in us to provide the safest environment possible in today's world, and to visit Bali to experience the special uniqueness of this culturally peaceful Island of the gods." But details of the 2005 attacks make them particularly frightening. The 2002 bombings were a relatively complex and expensive operation. Police can hope to thwart such plots. Suicide bombings are far easier to organize, and, as with the experience of Israel - the most security-conscious nation on earth - illustrates, far more difficult to prevent. Two of the October 1 targets were beachfront cafes, highlighting the difficulty of safeguarding public beaches and the wider issue of balancing security with a holiday atmosphere. "The last attack was very bad for families," said a hotel manager (who asked for his name and employer to be withheld). "The first attack was at a nightclub; you could not go to nightclubs. The last one was restaurants, and everybody eats." The manager said some people have concluded "there is no really safe place in Bali". Australian 30-something Maha Noore, a Bali regular since the 1990s, said she'll come back. "But it won't be the high life anymore. No more visits to La Lucciola or Ku De Ta," - top restaurants in trendy Seminyak - "too conspicuous as targets." She also reports a friend recently visited Bali's Ritz-Carlton, barely leaving the hotel grounds. "Tragic," Noore said. "While he missed out on most of the culture" - which is Bali's unique selling proposition - "more importantly, few of his Australian dollars filtered through to local small businesses." MICE flee One owner of a corporate events organizer half jokingly welcomed staff to a year-end dinner as veterans of "our final program in Bali". The MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) business had returned to Bali along with the tourists by mid-2005, but now corporate travel planners simply can't take the risk - or get insurance against it - to hold events in Bali, ripping a big slice out of top hotels' income. As Asia regional manager of consumer banking for a leading financial multinational, Chin Shih-tang touted Bali for a global executive shindig in 2001. He believes resorts in Nusa Dua, the five-star hotel preserve at the southern tip of the island, would still be safe for an event, but Chin cites other concerns, some not on his checklist five years ago. "First, arrivals at the airport. Is there a secure, private airport for the big shots' corporate jet to arrive? Apart from the bigs, even though the travel agents would spread them out, there would be a number of flights with several people from the company on each one. The other danger area would be transportation to and from the resort site. Again, a fairly large number of individuals on chartered buses, which would be quite vulnerable to car bombs or accidentally being in the wrong place at the wrong time." With the holiday tourists coming, albeit in reduced numbers, Bali's police are on high alert, well aware that Indonesian radicals have struck other islands during previous Christmas seasons. Haji Bambang believes, "One more attack and Bali is dead." But the hotel manager is more sanguine: "When we pass Christmas and New Year without more incidents, maybe we will get more confident. Maybe then we can see the light at the end of the tunnel." Gary LaMoshi has worked as a broadcast producer and print writer and editor in the US and Asia. Longtime editor of investor rights advocate eRaider.com, he's also a contributor to Slate and Salon.com. (Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us for information on sales, syndication and republishing.) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. http://us.click.yahoo.com/f4eSOB/lbOLAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Reading only, http://dear.to/ppi 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
