Jakarta floods are a dampener for Bali

Tuesday, 06 Feb, 2008 0

DENPASAR – Leaders of two influential tourism associations in Bali have expressed concern over the negative impact the recent floods in Jakarta would have on the country’s tourism image, particularly as it had just kicked off the 2008 Visit Indonesia tourism campaign.

Jakarta was paralysed by heavy flooding last weekend.

“What we should worry about is the impact of the flood on the image we would like to present to the world during the 2008 Visit Indonesia Year,” executive director of Bali Hotels Association, Djinaldi Gosana, told the Jakarta Post.

The Bali chapter of the Association of Indonesia Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA) expressed similar concerns.

“The news of the closure of the Soekarno-Harta International airport must have travelled far and wide in the international community by now,” said ASITA head Al Purwa, adding that such an incident wasn’t the kind of positive image the country’s tourism industry wanted to convey to its global potential market.

The flood that inundated a strip of toll road leading to the airport forced the closure of Soekarno-Hatta International airport from Friday to Sunday. It was reopened Monday morning.

More than 200 domestic and international flights were delayed during the closure, which also affected the arrival times of around 14 flights to Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport.

Al Purwa welcomed the government’s decision to construct an elevated road along the flood-prone strip of the toll road as a way to cope with possible flooding in the future.

“The government should carry out that plan as soon as possible,” he said.

The head of the Bali Tourism Agency, I Gede Nurjaya, said the agency had yet to calculate the number of tourists who had to cancel their trips to Bali due to the airport’s closure and flood.

Ian Jarrett

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