Indonesian tourist island of Bali hopes to recover completely next year from a 2005 bomb blast that shattered its tourism industry.
“Bali is (just) 18 per cent behind the normal situation and, if nothing happens, hopefully we will completely recover next year” said Bali Tourism Board chairman Bagus Sudibya in a dialogue on “Asean, the World Tourist Destination” with visiting Asean journalists.
He said authorities on the island have embarked on several measures to regain the confidence of tourists following the bomb blast of October 2005 as well as the earlier incident, in October 2002.
Sudibya said the Governor of Bali has instructed every hotel on the island to include the intake of security personnel in their operating cost.
All places of tourist interest have been directed to install closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, whether they are restaurants or shops, he said.
He also said that the perception that certain tourist attractions in the Asean countries were safer than others must be changed as the percentage of people killed due to acts of terrorism was only 0.001 per cent.
Sudibya said Asean member countries were well visited due to their diverse cultures and cuisines and good transportation system.
Meanwhile, Bali Vice Governor Alit Kesuma Kelakan said he was confident that Bali would recover soon.
He also said that statistics showed that tourist arrivals have increased to 650 per day now compared to only 200 after the 2005 bomb blasts.
Related News
- No Related News
