Bali Tourism Ready to Fight Back

The Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism has vowed that the recent tragedy which hit Bali on October 1st will not undermine the governments determination to fight any form of terrorism, to assure the prosperity of Indonesian people through tourism and to implement all the necessary measures to make Indonesia a destination safe and open to all visitors. On October 4th, prior to the start of the Ramadan as well as the religious Balinese festival of Galungan, some 200 Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists gathered to reaffirm their common determination to fight all forms of extremism and terrorism and promote peace.

The explosion of three bombs in the island of Bali is a tragedy for all Indonesians as well as for many around the world. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism expressed its most sincere condolences to all families and people who lost some relatives or friends on October 1st. The Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik as well as the Director General for Tourism in charge of marketing Thamrin Bachri extended their gratitude to all governments who expressed their support to Indonesia.

“We hope that visitors will continue to provide their support to us by still visiting Bali and Indonesia” said Jero Wacik.

Up to the date of October 5th, the Bali tourism trade recorded only limited cancellation from visitors. There has also been  no cancellation from any of the airlines flying to Bali. According to the Bali Hotels Association, it is “business as usual” with a minimal amount of people leaving the island following the tragedy. Hotels did not experience mass exodus like in the previous tragedy of October 2002 but expect however some cancellations over the next few weeks. In 2003, tourist arrivals declined by 23% following the October attack.

Tightened security

The government had already reinforced over the last year security measures not only in Jakarta but also in all big cities and tourist areas around the country. Additional security measures are currently being discussed and should be announced before the end of the year. Tightened security at airports, hotels, shopping centres as well as main tourist areas already exist for over three years but will further be reinforced and extended to more areas in the country. Proactive security measures have also been in place in all Bali Hotels Association members since October 2002. 

The three bombs damaged a limited part of Kuta as well as two areas around Jimbaran beach. Bali is a large island and outside the Kuta and Jimbaran areas, life is fully normal. “Some groups of tourists have been relocated in fact to other areas like Nusa Dua, Klung Klung, Ubud or Menjangan resort island. The rest of Indonesia has also not been affected and is still open for tourism”, explained Thamrin Bachri, Director General for Marketing at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Jero Wacik, Indonesia’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, is touring the island with a group of 60 international and domestic media representatives to show that life still goes on. The group will participate in the religious ceremonies marking the start of the Galungan holiday.

Bali, number one destination in Indonesia

With the explosion of three bombs in Bali, terrorists once again targeted one of Indonesia’s most precious cultural and tourism assets. Bali is in fact Indonesia’s premium destination as it received in 2004 over 1.52 million visitors on a total of 5.32 million for the whole country. 2004 was then an absolute record for the island which surpassed by 3.2% its previous best performance of 2000. Bali visitors’ market share represented last year 28.66% of all arrivals to Indonesia, far ahead of Jakarta which had a market share of 18.88%. If guests in commercial accommodation are only considered, Bali has an even greater market share at 43% of all foreign arrivals to the country.

The Asia Pacific region generated 799,408 visitors – 52.38% of all Bali arrivals. The four leading source countries for Bali tourist arrivals were Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia. Japanese arrivals remained the largest inbound market for Bali with 326,104 visitors. ASEAN travellers topped 144,373 last year. European visitors had a share of 22.88% or 349,113 arrivals.

From January to July 2005, Bali was on the way to achieve its best year so far. The island recorded 887,450 international visitors, a growth of almost 7%. Hoteliers were also reporting healthy occupancy rates on the island with hotels looking to achieve between 80 and 90% for the coming high season.

Tourism is essential to Bali economy

Tourism is vital for the island’s economy which lacks major natural resources such as in neighbouring Java or Kalimantan. Tourism employs 1.3 million Balinese from a total population of 3.3 million. Foreign exchange earnings from tourism in Bali represent on average over 25% of the total national foreign exchanges earnings from the sector. In 2004, these revenues amounted to approximately US$ 1.2 billion.

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