RECENT QUAKE POSSES NO HARM TO TOURISTS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 7 (ANTARA) - Last week's magnitude-7.3 earthquake which rocked several parts of West Java and killed at least 74 people has prompted tourists to question whether it is now still safe to visit tourism objects in the region.

        Moreover, there are irrational rumors that are circulating in regions which were affected by the powerful earthquake, saying that aftershocks will soon occur and trigger tsunami. "Thesa are irrational rumors. There will be no tsunami," Head of Tourism Service of Sukabumi, one of the districts affected by last Wednesday's earthquake, Iyos Sumantri, said.

        A powerful earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale with its epicenter located 142 km southwest of Tasikmalaya, West Java, on Wednesday (September 2) damaged many buildings and killed about 74 people in Tasikmalaya, Cianjur, and other areas in West Java.

        The earthquake whose epicenter was at 8.24 degrees southern latitude, and 107.32 degrees eastern longitude near Tasikmalaya in West Java was also felt as far away as Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, and the resort island of Bali.

        Rumors that aftershocks of the recent earthquake would create tsunami have prompted the regional government of Sukabumi district, West Java, to guarantee that the region's Pelabuhanratu beach is safe.

        Rumors about tsunami are believed to affect tourists intending to visit Pelabuhanratu beach during this year's holidays. Therefore, the regional government of Sukabumi called on the people and tourists wishing to visit Pelabuhanratu to ignore the rumors. "The Pelabuhanratu beach is safe for tourists," Head of Tourism Service of Sukabumi Iyos Sumantri said here on Monday.

        He said that the rumors saying there would be aftershocks that could create tsunami were irrational predictions. The Pelabuhanratu beach is safe from tsunami.

        "There is no need for tourists to be concerned about the earthquake that had happened last Wednesday," he said.

        However, tourists, particularly foreign ones, have questioned the condition whether it would be safe for them to visit the country.

        "Indonesia has to explain the conditions after the earthquake whether it is still safe and could be visited," Managing Director of Triways Travel Network, Akil Yusof, said in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.

        Yusof, who is a former marketing representative of Indonesian tourism in Malaysia said that it was urgent for Indonesia to explain the conditions because Indonesia still constituted the main destination of Malaysian tourists.

        However, according to the tourism and culture ministry's observation, the recent powerful earthquake centered in West Java has so far not had any negative impact on Indonesia's tourism sector.

        Sapta Nirwandar, director general of marketing affairs at the tourism and culture ministry, said the recent earthquake in West Java was a natural disaster which could have happened anywhere. Therefore, he said, its effect on the tourism sector would not be as negative as terror bombings.

        "Up till now, we haven't received any report on cancellations of tourist visits or travel plans ," Nirwandar said here on Monday.

        He also denied rumors that an exodus of foreign tourists happened shortly after the West Java earthquake but said everything possible should be done to prevent such an exodus from happening.

        "We must give tourists clear information about the earthquake's epicenter and its effect. We also must give them a safety guarantee for travel in Indonesia," he said.

        Akil Yusof said that he was afraid that many Malaysian tourists would cancel their plan to visit Indonesia, even if they have planned it sometime in the past.

        "They raised concern and questioned their safety if they visit Indonesia," Yusof said. He said that so far Malaysian tourists saw Indonesia as a favorite destination for holidaying.

        For them, Indonesia as a destination has the value for money with its different kinds of cultures, culinary, and languages of the same stock as that of Malaysia.

        "But after seeing news reports in the media that a powerful quake had struck Indonesia with a big number of victims, they became afraid to visit the country," Yusof said. After all, there are certain ethnicity in Malaysia saw Bandung as their favorite destination.

        According to data at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Malaysia is the second biggest country which sent tourists to Indonesia in 2008, after Singapore. The number of Malaysian tourists visiting Indonesia in 2008 reached 864,000 while in 2009 the Indonesian government targeted to net 930,000 Malaysian tourists.

        So, in spite of the twin bombings of two international hotels in Jakarta last July, Director General Sapta Nirwandar was convinced Indonesia would be able to achieve its foreign tourist arrivals target for this year.

        "The present conducive conditions make us optimistic we will achieve the 2009 target of 6.4 million tourist arrivals," he said.

        For 2010, the tourism and culture ministry would raise the tourist arrival target to seven million, he said.

        In the first semester of 2009, Indonesia was one of the Asia-Pacific countries that saw positive growth in the tourism sector. In the January-July period in 2009, Indonesia's tourism grew 2.56 percent. This put Indonesia in third place after South Korea and Malaysia. ***2*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/20:10) (T.A014/A/A014/H-AJM) 07-09-2009 21:29:12