A report in The Australian says that Balinese operators are accusing Australia of discriminating against Bali with an “ongoing frenzy” of travel warnings that have slashed Australian tourism to the island by 25%.
On the anniversary of the Jimbaran Bay and Kuta restaurant bombings, the Bali Tourism Board has complained to the Australian Government, asking it to tone down warnings by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade against travel to Indonesia because of potential terrorist attacks.
In a letter to Australia’s ambassador to Indonesia, tourism board chairman Bagus Sudibya blamed the downturn of visitors to the island on the “ongoing frenzy of warnings about Bali being unsafe”. Mr Sudibya acknowledged the two terrorist bombings and loss of life on the island, but said the warnings did not reflect measures to dramatically improve the safety and security of visitors.
“There are clearly other regions and cities throughout the world with greater security issues than Bali – Britain being one of them – but the travel advisories for such places are vastly ‘toned down’, issued with far less frequency, or indeed reduced overnight in the case of Thailand last week,” he said.
A DFAT spokeswoman said the ambassador in Jakarta, Bill Farmer, would respond directly to the letter, but Australia did not apologise for the warnings, which were based on credible sources.
A Special Thailand Report by The Mole
