Jakarta, March 7 (Antara) - Bali is a paradise for Australians who have
so far dominated foreign tourist arrivals in the Indonesian tourist
resort province.
The Bali bombings in October 2002 killed 88 Australians and 76 other
foreigners. But this did not hamper the Australian tourists to come to
the island of gods. Even, Australian tourist arrivals in Bali are now
on the rise again.
According
to data revealed by the Central Bureau of Statistics, 991,923
Australian tourists visited Bali in 2014, an increase of 20 percent as
compared to the number of tourists recorded the previous year.
Also, in January 2015, Bali recorded 85,059 tourist arrivals from Australia.
Chairman of the Association of the Indonesian Tours & Travel
Agencies (ASITA) for Bali Ketut Ardana said Australian tourists
consider Bali their second home as the island is located close to the
country.
Thus,
the report on the Australian call on its citizens to boycott Bali's
tourism will not significantly affect Australian visitors. A number of
Australian tourists visiting Bali have expressed their disagreement to
the tourism boycott, which is a mark of protest over the imminent
executions of Bali Nine ringleaders, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.
"I do not agree with the boycott because I still love Bali," Coally
Ann, an Australian tourist stated on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Julia Ann, who
is Coally's sister, also supports tourism in Bali.
"We will continue to support tourism in Bali," she noted.
The call was linked with Indonesia's plan to execute two Australians on
death row for a drug offense. But it seems that many Australians would
continue to visit Bali.
"I am sure that the Australians who visit Bali are repeat tourists
(frequent visitors to Bali), so they will not be concerned about the
issue," Ketut Ardana noted on Wednesday.
According to Ardana, Australian tourists considered Bali as a second
home since the island is located close to the country.
Responding to the Australian government's reaction, Ardana stated that
the Australian government wants to protect its citizens.
Similarly, the issue of boycott will not have a significant effect on tourist arrivals.
"In
Australia, there is a rumor about the boycott, but the country's
political opponents also support the execution. There are both pros and
cons," he noted.
The
Australian government has urged Indonesia to cancel the execution of
its two citizens. It even offered an exchange of prisoners.
The
government of President Joko Widodo recently executed six convicted
drug dealers on death row. Besides one of its own citizens, the
convicts were from Malawi, Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil and the Netherlands.
The executions prompted Brazil and the Netherlands to recall their
ambassadors in protest.
Amid the protests, Indonesia will soon execute 11 other convicts
sentenced to death, including nine drug convicts, two of whom are Andrew
Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
The two Australians were members of the 'Bali Nine' drug ring, a group
of drug traffickers who were nabbed on April 17, 2005, in Bali while
they were trying to smuggle out 8.3 kilograms of heroin worth Rp40
billion to Australia.
The plan to execute the two Australian nationals has led Australian
Prime Minister Tony Abbott to warn Indonesia. He was quoted as saying by
ABC that his government "will find ways to make its displeasure known
if the executions are carried out."
It was reported that the Australian threats included a call for boycott of Bali's tourism.
The governor of Bali believes that the increasing tensions in the
relations between Indonesia and Australia due to the planned execution
of two Australian convicts will not significantly affect tourism on the
island.
"There will not be much impact," Governor Made Mangku Pastika said on Friday.
Pastika added that he believes tourists from Australia will not stop
visiting the island due to the planned execution of the leaders of the
Bali Nine drug ring, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, because Bali has
been the favorite tourist destination of a majority of the Australian
population.
"What
kind of boycott would they impose? Will they be banned from coming to
Bali? Is such a ban allowed? Will the people (Australians) adhere to
it?" he remarked.
In the meantime, tourism observer Ketut Sudiarta of the Denpasar
Warmadewa University (Unwar) stated that Bali will remain among the
favorite tourist destinations for Australians because Bali and Australia
have had an emotional bond for long.
"Australia's appeal to its citizens to boycott Bali is an emotional
call that will only have a temporary effect. It (the emotion) will
return to normal again in stages," he said.
He added that Bali's tourism market will not be disturbed significantly
with the Australian government's call to boycott it.
Australian tourists will not be influenced by the plan to execute two drug convicts on death row from their country.
As many as 301,748 foreign tourists visited the resort island of Bali
in January 2015, up 8.05 percent from 279,257 tourists in the same month
last year.
"Compared to December 2014, the number of tourist arrivals in January
2015 dropped 13.13 percent," Head of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS)
Office in Bali Province Panusunan Siregar stated.
During the year 2014, as many as 3.76 million foreign tourists visited
Bali, a 14.89 percent increase as compared to 3.27 million tourists
recorded a year before.
Panusunan remarked that the number of tourists from seven of the top
ten sources of foreign tourist arrivals in Bali rose significantly,
while the number of tourists from the other three countries fell.
Australia still ranked first in the list of top ten sources of tourist
arrivals in Bali in January 2015, with 85,059 tourists, up 19.32 percent
from 71,288 tourists in the same month last year.***1***
(T.A014/S012)
(T.A014/A/BESSR/Suharto) 07-03-2015 00:36: |
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