Jakarta Back on the Road to Recovery

The tragic bomb attacks that took place in Jakarta on 17 July 2009 have again shocked Jakarta and the entire country. However, the latest UNWTO mission, carried out by Xu Jing, Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific from 21-22 July 2009, indicates that the city is recovering rapidly.

Apart from the specific areas where the JW Marriot and Ritz-Carlton are located, life has basically restored to normal. “Jakarta did stop for a moment on Friday, but not for long. We are not going to allow terrorists to dictate and allow them to make Jakarta their hostage,” said Fauzi Bowo, Governor of DKI Jakarta on 21 July at the Jakarta Media Centre.

Latest data, obtained from Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and confirmed by the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association, reveal that there is no obvious tourist exodus from Jakarta nor from Bali - which is enjoying good trade this year - as a result of the blast.

The Government of Indonesia took a number of immediate actions in order to minimize the negative impacts of the attacks. A Crisis Centre was immediately established in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to provide the tourism industry as well as individual visitors with information and the latest updates on the situation.

“There is no room for terrorism to kill tourism. There is no room for terrorists to use tourism to kill innocent visitors,”  said Dr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General a.i. of UNWTO. “Despite the temporary setbacks, Indonesia, as a world-famous tourist destination will continue its charm of cultural and natural diversity. In fact, Indonesia performed exceptionally well last year, achieving a 16.8 % increase of international tourist arrivals. From January to May 2009, tourist arrivals to Bali, Indonesia’s prime destination, were up by as high as 9.35 % when most destinations in the region were adversely affected by the financial and economic downturn. Time and again, Indonesia has manifested itself as an exemplary model to use tourism as an effective instrument not only to confront the short term economic difficulties but more importantly as a driving engine for job creation, trade and development.”

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