Can The Indonesian Tourism Industry Survive The Bombs?
Last week’s attacks on the Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta are the latest blows to a beleaguered tourism industry. Like the rest of us, the country is suffering from the global recession but it also carries the memories of the Bali bombings in October 2002 and the bomb in Jakarta, also at the Marriott, in August 2003.
According to The Straits Times, in a televised address to the nation over the weekend, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said: ‘Those who carried out this attack and those who planned it will be arrested and tried according to the law.’ Calling the twin bombings an ‘act of terrorism’, Mr Yudhoyono said the attackers ‘have no humanity and they don’t care about the damage done to our country with this act of terrorism which will have wide effects on our economy, trade, tourism and image in the eyes of the world.’
No matter where we live nor where we travel to it is a sad fact that in today’s world a terrorist attack is possible at any time. It is a horrible thought but for our own sanity it is one we cannot dwell upon.
I choose to travel with optimism and a belief that all people are fundamentally good. That is the world I wish to live in and I am sure there are millions of others who think the same.
In my opinion, thanks to a determination by many of us to continue travelling and thanks too to a diverse yet broadly united population, the Indonesian tourism industry can and will survive.
For now though my thoughts are with those who suffered in this recent atrocity and my heart goes out to their friends and families. I hope they soon find a kind of peace.
Image: TeeJe via Flickr
