ID :
31591
Fri, 11/21/2008 - 23:47
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/31591
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GLOBAL CRISIS STARTING TO AFFECT BALI'S TOURISM
Denpasar, Nov 21 (ANTARA) - The current global financial crisis is starting to affect tourism in Bali, creating worries among tourism operators in the Indonesian resort island.
The Bali branch of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) reported the occurrence of cancellations of hotel reservations for November, particularly reservations at three-to five-star hotels.
"The cancellations came from would-be visitors from England, Germany and the US," secretary general of the PHRI's Bali chapter, Perry Markus, said here on Friday.
The situation was likely to affect the income of tourism operators as the year end is usually a high season for the island's tourism industry.
But Markus also said Bali tourism operators were expecting to be saved by tourists from Asia such as Singapore and Malaysia as well as Australia.
"Although there is still fresh air to breathe it is not wrong to make a strategy to anticipate a prolonged crisis. We do not know when the crisis will come to an end," he said.
He said the regional tourism service and the PHRI had already called on hotel operators to immediately take anticipatory measures in case the condition continued over the next six months.
He said the government feared there would be mass lay-offs unless anticipatory measures were taken.
Markus suggested that tourism operators start to conduct belt-tightening and hoped that no employee would be laid off.
The head of the regional tourism service, Gde Nurjaya, said the regional administration was also carrying out a budget austerity program.
"The austerity program is to be realized in the 2009 budget and will also apply to programs to send art troupes abroad to promote Bali tourism," he said.
The Bali branch of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) reported the occurrence of cancellations of hotel reservations for November, particularly reservations at three-to five-star hotels.
"The cancellations came from would-be visitors from England, Germany and the US," secretary general of the PHRI's Bali chapter, Perry Markus, said here on Friday.
The situation was likely to affect the income of tourism operators as the year end is usually a high season for the island's tourism industry.
But Markus also said Bali tourism operators were expecting to be saved by tourists from Asia such as Singapore and Malaysia as well as Australia.
"Although there is still fresh air to breathe it is not wrong to make a strategy to anticipate a prolonged crisis. We do not know when the crisis will come to an end," he said.
He said the regional tourism service and the PHRI had already called on hotel operators to immediately take anticipatory measures in case the condition continued over the next six months.
He said the government feared there would be mass lay-offs unless anticipatory measures were taken.
Markus suggested that tourism operators start to conduct belt-tightening and hoped that no employee would be laid off.
The head of the regional tourism service, Gde Nurjaya, said the regional administration was also carrying out a budget austerity program.
"The austerity program is to be realized in the 2009 budget and will also apply to programs to send art troupes abroad to promote Bali tourism," he said.
