Lombok quake sends shudders through tourist industry

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SENGGIGI, Indonesia, Aug 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The powerful earthquakes that
struck the Indonesian island of Lombok in recent weeks killing some 400
people have sent holidaymakers fleeing, raising questions about how its
lucrative tourism sector will bounce back.

Two deadly tremors a week apart — accompanied by dozens of aftershocks —
wrought widespread damage on homes and livelihoods, striking during the
crucial tourism season, when hotels, local businesses and seasonal workers
earn the bulk of their annual revenue.

In the Gili Islands, a popular backpacker and diving destination just off
Lombok’s northern coast, thousands of terrified tourists jostled on powder-
white beaches for departing boats.

Lombok’s airport was briefly crammed with holidaymakers rushing to get
flights out, while the main tourist drag of Senggigi has been left deserted.

Alfan Hasandi depended on peak season tourists to see his family through
the rest of the year. He and his brothers ran a now shuttered business on one
of the islands, Gili Air, offering boat tickets, snorkeling, trekking and
vehicle rentals, usually earning five million rupiah ($350) a day during peak
season.

“We hope we can rebuild… but it’s impossible because people are still
traumatised,” the 25-year-old told AFP. “Our homes have been completely
destroyed… We don’t have money to rebuild, we need help.”

Located in the one of the most tectonically active areas in the world,
Indonesians are used to natural disasters and its tourism industry has
bounced back from catastrophes in the past.

But for Lombok, the quakes struck at an especially cruel time, when the
island’s tourism industry was on the way up.

– ‘A new Bali’ –

Dubbed “The Island of a Thousand Mosques”, Muslim-majority Lombok was
always a path less travelled destination than its bigger neighbor Bali, the
Hindu-majority island that forms the backbone of Indonesia’s $19.4 billion
tourist sector.

But it had been earmarked as one of Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s “10
new Balis” with the regional government hoping to develop it into a major
destination, especially in the booming halal tourism sector.

Its residents now have to repair and rebuild, hoping that spooked tourists
return.

Senggigi would normally be bustling with visitors this time of year. Now
boats lie idle along its main beach, restaurants and hotels have been
shuttered on its main drag and the usual stream of touts offering services
has dried up.

“We don’t know whether we can operate again in September,” Susi Hayati,
manager of the Asmara restaurant, told AFP.

Ketut Jaya, manager of the nearby Holiday Resort Lombok, said it might be
a month before they could start taking guest bookings again. Just 19 of the
resort’s 189 rooms were occupied by hardy tourists who decided not to leave
after the quake.

Authorities estimate the damage unleashed by the two quakes on buildings
and infrastructure on Lombok will exceed two trillion rupiah ($138 million).

– ‘Temporary shock’ –

But while the post-quake images of destruction and departing tourists were
dramatic, analysts predict tourism in the region will recover after short-
term pain.

Indonesia’s tourism sector has been robust in the face of major crises
before, including natural disasters like the 2004 tsunami and terror attacks
such as the 2002 Bali bombings.

“The impact is not as big as a tsunami and the (Lombok) airport is still
open,” Tedjo Iskandar, a Jakarta-based travel analyst with TTC Travel Mart,
told AFP.

Asnawi Bahar, chairman of Indonesia’s tour and travel agency association,
described the earthquake as a “temporary shock” for the sector.

The number of visitors to Bali plummeted following the 2002 bombings,
which targeted a nightclub and bar frequented by Western tourists. The
attacks killed more than 200 people and shocked the world.

But the island soon regained its status as one of the world’s most popular
holiday destinations.

That is little comfort for people like Vina Kartika, who used to work on
Gili Trawangan, where one of her friends was killed in the quake, and has
currently lost her seasonal tourism job.

“I will now have to stay at home, doing nothing,” she said.

On Gili Air island, some hotels were flattened but others survived. A
diving school was barricaded with wood panels and furniture to keep intruders
out. A supermarket in the middle of the island was completely empty, its
windows broken.

Hasandi said he is trying to remain upbeat, and he said lessons can be
learned from the Bali’s recovery. “People were scared back then but then came
back,” he said. “This is a natural disaster, so it should be OK — God
willing.”