The Bali bombings in October 2002 killed 88 Australians and 76 other foreigners. But this did not hamper the Australian tourists to come to the island of gods. Even, Australian tourist arrivals in Bali are now on the rise again.
According to data revealed by the Central Bureau of Statistics, 991,923 Australian tourists visited Bali in 2014, an increase of 20 percent as compared to the number of tourists recorded the previous year.
Also, in January 2015, Bali recorded 85,059 tourist arrivals from Australia.
Chairman of the Association of the Indonesian Tours & Travel Agencies (ASITA) for Bali Ketut Ardana said Australian tourists consider Bali their second home as the island is located close to the country.
Thus, the report on the Australian call on its citizens to boycott Balis tourism will not significantly affect Australian visitors. A number of Australian tourists visiting Bali have expressed their disagreement to the tourism boycott, which is a mark of protest over the imminent executions of Bali Nine ringleaders, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.
"I do not agree with the boycott because I still love Bali," Coally Ann, an Australian tourist stated on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Julia Ann, who is Coallys sister, also supports tourism in Bali.
"We will continue to support tourism in Bali," she noted.
The call was linked with Indonesias plan to execute two Australians on death row for a drug offense. But it seems that many Australians would continue to visit Bali.
"I am sure that the Australians who visit Bali are repeat tourists (frequent visitors to Bali), so they will not be concerned about the issue," Ketut Ardana noted on Wednesday.
According to Ardana, Australian tourists considered Bali as a second home since the island is located close to the country.
Responding to the Australian governments reaction, Ardana stated that the Australian government wants to protect its citizens.
Similarly, the issue of boycott will not have a significant effect on tourist arrivals.
"In Australia, there is a rumor about the boycott, but the countrys political opponents also support the execution. There are both pros and cons," he noted.
The Australian government has urged Indonesia to cancel the execution of its two citizens. It even offered an exchange of prisoners.
The government of President Joko Widodo recently executed six convicted drug dealers on death row. Besides one of its own citizens, the convicts were from Malawi, Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil and the Netherlands. The executions prompted Brazil and the Netherlands to recall their ambassadors in protest.
Amid the protests, Indonesia will soon execute 11 other convicts sentenced to death, including nine drug convicts, two of whom are Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
The two Australians were members of the Bali Nine drug ring, a group of drug traffickers who were nabbed on April 17, 2005, in Bali while they were trying to smuggle out 8.3 kilograms of heroin worth Rp40 billion to Australia.
The plan to execute the two Australian nationals has led Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to warn Indonesia. He was quoted as saying by ABC that his government "will find ways to make its displeasure known if the executions are carried out."
It was reported that the Australian threats included a call for boycott of Balis tourism.
The governor of Bali believes that the increasing tensions in the relations between Indonesia and Australia due to the planned execution of two Australian convicts will not significantly affect tourism on the island.
"There will not be much impact," Governor Made Mangku Pastika said on Friday.
Pastika added that he believes tourists from Australia will not stop visiting the island due to the planned execution of the leaders of the Bali Nine drug ring, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, because Bali has been the favorite tourist destination of a majority of the Australian population.
"What kind of boycott would they impose? Will they be banned from coming to Bali? Is such a ban allowed? Will the people (Australians) adhere to it?" he remarked.
In the meantime, tourism observer Ketut Sudiarta of the Denpasar Warmadewa University (Unwar) stated that Bali will remain among the favorite tourist destinations for Australians because Bali and Australia have had an emotional bond for long.
"Australias appeal to its citizens to boycott Bali is an emotional call that will only have a temporary effect. It (the emotion) will return to normal again in stages," he said.
He added that Balis tourism market will not be disturbed significantly with the Australian governments call to boycott it.
Australian tourists will not be influenced by the plan to execute two drug convicts on death row from their country.
As many as 301,748 foreign tourists visited the resort island of Bali in January 2015, up 8.05 percent from 279,257 tourists in the same month last year.
"Compared to December 2014, the number of tourist arrivals in January 2015 dropped 13.13 percent," Head of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) Office in Bali Province Panusunan Siregar stated.
During the year 2014, as many as 3.76 million foreign tourists visited Bali, a 14.89 percent increase as compared to 3.27 million tourists recorded a year before.
Panusunan remarked that the number of tourists from seven of the top ten sources of foreign tourist arrivals in Bali rose significantly, while the number of tourists from the other three countries fell.
Australia still ranked first in the list of top ten sources of tourist arrivals in Bali in January 2015, with 85,059 tourists, up 19.32 percent from 71,288 tourists in the same month last year.
(A014/S012)
(A014/KR-BSR/S012)
Reporter: Andi Abdussalam
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
