Qantas aids Air Paradise passengers
Reports suggest up to 1500 passengers are stranded in Bali after discount carrier Air Paradise suspended operations yesterday as a result of the downturn in patronage following the Bali bombings.
The airlines owner, Mr Kadek Wiranatha said the attacks had devastated the Balinese tourism industry. The number of foreigners visiting the island in October fell almost 37 per cent year-on-year to 81,109 people.
Australian Consul-general in Bali Brent Hall said that between 1300 and 1500 Australians were believed to be in Bali, and would be flown home by Qantas before December 10.
“We’ve been talking to Air Paradise and Qantas about what to do,” Hall said. Mr Hall said he had sent a mail-out to all Australians registered as being in Indonesia as well as to all hotels in Bali.
“We would ask for your cooperation and patience, particularly in dealing with staff at Qantas in Bali,” it said.
“It is important to understand that Qantas are assisting in this operation on a no-fee basis and their office in Bali is not ordinarily equipped to handle a situation such as this.”
The carrier normally handled around 20,000 passengers a month.
The Bali Tourism Board has planned several road shows over the next couple of months to some of the island’s major inbound source markets. As the most sensitive market, Japan is the first on the agenda, followed by Australia and China. While it takes time for confidence among tourists to be restored, inevitably hotel performance will suffer.
The biggest hurdle Bali faces in the coming months is to ensure that it is perceived as a low risk destination. However, as Bali may now be seen as a regular target for terrorism, this may be an uphill struggle. Although visitor arrivals may not initially be declining as quickly as in the aftermath of the 2002 bombings, there is a danger that the number of tourists may fall significantly in the long term. Even though tourists are becoming more resilient to terrorist attacks, there is also strong competition from neighbouring islands in Asia Pacific which may be deemed safer.
Graham Muldoon
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