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May
2003 Restoration of Tourism in Bali
Chief
of Bali Tourism Office, I Gede Pitana, is
confident that Bali will see the restoration
of this destination sooner than the calculated
time. Interviewed recently by Bali Travel
News, Pitana, who is also an Udayana University
professor in Sociology of Tourism, explained
three points of argument in support of his
optimism.
“I am sure that Bali’s tourism
industry is suffering a low ebb due to the
Kuta bomb and that this will begin to lessen
in May 2003 ahead of the summer vacations,”
Pitana disclosed.
The bomb, which caused more than 180 deaths
and wounded several hundred others, has
not completely destroyed the image of Bali
in the eyes of the world.
He took the example of the words of appreciation
written in the magazine of ‘Time Asia’
in the 17 October 2002 edition reflecting
Pitana’s first argument that Bali has
maintained its position as “The Favourite
Holiday Destination in Asia.”
Secondly, Pitana argued that the world’s
sympathy to Bali has been of an immense
scale. Bali has gained wide-scale publication
and sympathetic aid from various countries.
In the case of the bomb, it is not Bali
or Indonesia that has become the culprit,
but the terrorists responsible for the crime.
“The great sympathy has created positive
promotion for Bali,” Pitana added.
His last argument is that after the bomb
tragedy, Bali’s official agencies and
social elements have strengthened their
security measures. Pitana perceived “internal
security maintained by the community has
never been stronger.”
Pitana pointed to the peaceful attitude
shown by the community following the bomb
blast. There was no chaos or social conflict
and such conditions have resulted in bringing
about security under very tight control.
Besides this, Indonesian Police have been
assisted by investigation teams from industrially
developed countries such as the US FBI (Federal
Bureau for Investigation), Australian Federal
Police and others, and have recorded confident
progress in the results of the investigation.
Since the 12 October bomb, hotel occupancy
rates in Bali have dropped drastically reaching
below 10 percent. Hotels and other businesses
in the tourism industry have economized
operational costs and given holidays to
their employees, organising work on an enlistment
system. (Darma Putra)
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