JAKARTA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia suffered only minor tourists visit
cancellation following bomb blasts in two luxurious hotels in South Jakarta, the
chairman the Association of Indonesia Tours and Travel said Friday.
"Until August 31, we have insignificant tourist arrival cancellation ranged
0-30 percent," Chairman Ben Sukma told reporters here.
He explained that cancellation to North Sumatra and West Sumatra province
stood at 5-10 percent, consisting of tourists from Malaysia, Singapore, and
Western Europe.
"Meanwhile, we saw large cancellation to Jakarta of 20-30 percent or 7,000
tourists from South Korea, China, Taiwan, and Europe. We haven't counted
domestic tourists that were expected bigger than that," Ben said.
The provincial capital city Bandung of West Java saw no cancellation while
Jogjakarta province suffered mild cancellation of 2-5 percent.
"We also suffer cancellation of a cruise from Japan to Bali province,
consisting of 1,800 people," said Ben.
However, he said, tourists tended to postpone travel for 4-8 weeks.
"In the period they'll wait and see before deciding what they will do next,
continue their plan or cancel it," he said.
In September to October, he said, Jakarta would conduct several activities
to attract foreign tourists.
"We hope to get 200-300 tours operators that will participate in the
events," he said.
On Oct. 2-4, Jakarta will conduct the Indonesia Travels and Tours Fair
(ITTF). Various road shows will also be held to attract tourists and show them
the real Indonesia.
Two bomb blasts wrecked JW Marriot and Ritz Carlton hotels in Mega Kuningan
business district in South Jakarta last Friday, taking nine lives and injures
about 60 others.