Airline woes for Indo tourism (The Bruinei Times)

31/07/07

Dewi Kurniawati
JAKARTA 30-Jul-07AS THE country reels under economic, political and environmental troubles, Indonesia has a new burden to shoulder: an airlines' ban that has a direct impact on its tourism.

The European Union officially banned all 51 Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe starting on July 6, while the US Federal Aviation Administration in April declared Indonesia had failed to comply with international safety standards.

Indonesia's air-safety record has been under fire following two commercial airline crashes that killed 123 people this year alone. EU's Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said the blacklist is considered an important tool in preventing unsafe airlines from flying to Europe and in informing passengers worldwide of safety problems.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono immediately expressed disappointment at the ban, calling it "the EU's unilateral action," and demanding more room for dialogue.Although government officials downplayed the impact, the EU's ban has already begun hurting tourism. "EU's airline ban has definitely put a burden on Indonesian tourism, especially now that it's the summer high-season for tourist arrivals," Bali Tourism Board chairman Ngurah Wijaya said.
"I know many tourists have cancelled their visits.

Indonesia has set a target of 6 million foreign visitors for this year and 8 million in 2009 nationwide.

The country had missed its tourist-arrival target of 5.5 million in 2006, registering 4.8 million foreign visitors for the year.

To help sweeten the package for foreigners, the government has allowed the citizens of 63 countries to be granted visas on arrival in the archipelago nation.

But the EU contributes about 25 per cent of tourist to the resort island of Bali alone, with as many as 600,000 European tourists visiting the country each year. Since Bali has an international airport facility, tourists who already planned their holiday before the ban took effect may yet fly to Bali with other airlines via Singapore.

"But it will definitely hurt other parts of Indonesia's tourism spots like Yogyakarta, Borneo and Sulawesi island, as tourists then have to take domestic flights," Wijaya said. DPA