Travellers “must not desert Asia”

The Indian Ocean disaster should not put off tourists from visiting the region, according to the World Tourism Organisation.

The WTO moved to counter the impression that much of Asia has been obliterated by the tsunami.

The organisation’s secretary general Francesco Frangialli warned that the situation could turn into a “double disaster” if misconception about the impact of the tsunami caused tourists to avoid countries in the region. 

He called on governments to draft travel advisories in a “careful and responsible manner” and to withdraw warnings in a timely fashion once the situation improves.

He said: “The international travel industry and individual travellers should carefully evaluate any change in their travel plans and itineraries.”

WTO chief of market intelligence and promotion Augusto Huescar said: “It is important to understand that the affected areas represent only limited parts of the coastal areas of the involved countries.”

The “vast majority” of tourist destinations in the affected countries remained totally untouched and are fully operations, according to the WTO, citing Bangkok and Chiangmai in Thailand, Goa and most of India and thousands of islands in the Indonesian archipleago. The island of Bali, for example, is thousands of kilometres away from the northern provinces of the island of Sumatra which was worst affected.

WTO figures show that the 12 Asian and African countries affected by the tsunami received about 31 million international arrivals in 2003, earning $23 billion. Asia as a whole saw a 37% growth in international tourist arrivals in the first eight months of last year. The 12 countries represent four per cent of global tourism market share.

The WTO added: “However, the tourism stock directly affected by the tsunami in the six most impacted Asian countries is estimated to represent less than one per cent of the global market share.”

Mr Frangialli said that experince from past emergencies shows that tourism is capable of recovering more vigorously and rapidly than initially expected.

“I am confident that this time it won’t be different, in spite of the severity and geographical extent of the disaster,” he said. “Tourism in the affected countries will overcome this disaster, just as it did during the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998, as it did in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 and as it did facing the outbreak of SARS in 2003.” 

Report by Phil Davies