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Bali a paradise island with its tourism industry in tatters

KUTA, Indonesia, Thursday (AFP) The paradise island of Bali lures tourists from across the globe with its white-sand beaches and unique Hindu culture, but the lucrative tourism industry was in ruins Sunday after a car bomb attack here killed more than 180 people.

The huge blast destroyed two bars packed with foreigners in this popular holiday district on Saturday night, in what Indonesian authorities described as the worst terrorist attack in the nation's history.

"This is at the very heart of Bali's tourist district, it is simply disastrous for us," the chairman of the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), I Gede Wiratha, told AFP.

A Bali hotel owner and a PHRI vice chairman, I Made Mastra, was equally pessimistic and warned the blast would have widespread ramifications for the rest of the nation's tourism industry.

"What is clear is that this spells doom for the future," he said. "Bali was one of the safest places in Indonesia. Not anymore."

Known as "The Island of the Gods", Bali sits off the easternmost tip of densely-populated Java island and is 95 percent Hindu, a culture that has flourished even though Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country.

It has long been a popular world tourist destination with its sprawling beaches, scenic rice terraces and its culture which dots the island with hundreds of temples.

Many of the world's jetsetters have residences in Bali, a green island despite its population of three million people. Many others stay in the island's many super luxurious hotels.

Bali's most loyal clients come from Australia, just a few hours away by plane. Kuta is very popular among Australian surfers.

Bali is Indonesia's top tourist destination with a total of 1.42 million tourists entering the country directly at Bali's international airport in 2001.

But many of the 3.7 million other tourists who entered the country from other destinations in Indonesia last year also visited Bali.

Bali had been spared by the violence, communal clashes and bombings that hit many regions of Indonesia following the downfall of former dictator Suharto in 1998. Indonesian officials had repeatedly insisted Bali was safe to visit, despite raised fears of terrorist attacks in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

They cited the island's Hindu culture which had no links with Muslim radicals blamed for much of the violence in other parts of the country.

Foreign embassies in their travel advisories had also only urged caution for their citizens visiting Bali, saying that the island was relatively safe and secure for foreigners.

This quickly changed following Saturday's attack with foreign governments urging their citizens to defer any planned trips to Bali. Some also said to avoid public places in the rest of Indonesia, while others warned against going to the country at all.

Even before Saturday's attack, Bali had already been suffering from decreasing numbers of tourists visiting the country.

Just as it was slowly recovering from a slump in response to violence in other parts of Indonesia dating back to 1997, the September 11 attacks caused more foreigners to stay away.

The number of tourists arrivals in Indonesia declined from 5.2 million in 1997 to 4.6 million in 1998, the year Suharto's fall triggered the start of communal unrest across the archipelago.

The arrivals slightly improved to 4.7 million in 1999 and reached five million in 2000.

Meanwhile the usually happy go-lucky people of Bali are awakening to the reality that their nightmare did not end with one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in history.

They are now facing the almost certain prospect of economic depression with the virtual collapse of the industry on which they are dependent and which they have become very good at - tourism.

Figures compiled for the three days after the massacre on Kuta's Jalan Raya Legian make it clear tourists in their thousands are starting to shun what for decades has been one of Asia's favourite playgrounds.

The Balinese are immensely proud of their tourism industry and will go to extraordinary lengths to protect the island's reputation as a tourist haven.

Without a hint of bravado, a Denpasar taxi driver described this week what happens to local thugs bold enough to attack a tourist.

"We kill them," he said. "We don't let criminals harm the tourist because they harm our livelihood. Anyone attacks a tourist, he surrounded and he end up dead. No police."

Bali's tourism industry leaders say they do what they can to protect their industry, including appealing for understanding to an international community which has enjoyed Bali's hospitality for years.

"Terrorists thrive on fear," said Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) vice president Peter Simone. "If they can create fear in a place like Bali then the tourists won't come and the terrorists win."

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Thai "longneck" ethnic group losing identity

BANGKOK, Thursday (AFP) Thailand's famous Padaung ethnic group - better known as "longnecks" for the metal coils they wear - is losing its identity at the hands of unscrupulous tour operators, officials said Friday.

The governor of northern Mae Hong Son province, where many Padaung now live after fleeing neighbouring Myanmar, has raised alarm over purpose-built "villages" where tourists are taken to ogle at the community.

"The governor said that he wants tourists to see the genuine way of life of the Karen Padaung people, not a show or their made-up faces," provincial spokesman Thamrong Paepimparat told AFP. Padaung women wear heavy brass coils which are added to each year in childhood.

By depressing the shoulders and ribcage they give the illusion of an extremely long neck - a tradition many visitors find fascinating.

Thamrong said the popularity of the group with tourists, who pay 200 baht (five dollars) to see them at one of three main sites, has led to them wearing make-up and Western clothes and playing banjos.

"The governor said that he wants them to lead their normal way of life, as they did in their native country," he said. The official blamed the changes occurring in the Padaung community on tour operators eager to cash in on their novelty value.

The Padaung themselves make only a small income from the trade by posing for photographs and selling souvenirs, most of which are purchased from Chiang Mai, the northern region's major city.

Tour operators first started taking tourists to see the Padaung about 10 years ago, and they were then invited to travel to Japan where they promoted Thai tourism at trade fairs.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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