How and why has the issue arisen?

Who is involved?

Bali or not to Bali

In the 1996 edition of Tourism a point was made of the devastating effect on Fiji's tourist industry of the political turmoil that accompanied the 1987 military coup in that country and the subsequent instability of the government. (See page 85)

The question also posed in 1996 was 'How do tourists gain an impression of a place?' Table 2.4 on page 41 listed potential sources of information for influencing tourist and other perceptions of places, environments and people. Amongst other sources 'talking to other people', 'newspapers' and 'TV programs' were identified as key methods of obtaining travel information.

It is a sad fact that to the world as a whole the Island of Timor and in particular the part known as East Timor is of little interest for most of the time. East Timor is a tiny territory of approximately 800,000 people that has been recognized by Australia, but very few other countries (including the United Nations), for 24 years, as part of Indonesia, a country of 211 million. But even tiny places sometimes become significant. Within hours of the official announcement on September 4^th 1999 that 78.5% of East Timorese had voted for independence from Indonesia, a murderous retribution began - carried out by the 'pro-integration with Indonesia' East Timorese militia and the TNI (the Indonesian Army). Across East Timor, hundreds, possibly thousands are feared dead. Refugees flooded across the border into Indonesian Wet Timor and into Australia. They told of appalling bloodshed and many massacres. In Australia massive TV and newspaper coverage effected millions of people.

The events cast a large pall over Australian-Indonesian relationships. Apart from the political consequences tourism between the two countries was also affected. Anti Indonesian Government activists attempted to block passengers boarding Indonesian flights, particularly those of the Indonesian airline Garuda, from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. In some instances, Australian unionists refused to handle air and sea cargo bound for Indonesia. Many people who had followed the events in East Timor over the last 25 years closely associated Bali with East Timor - it is the headquarters of the Udayana military region, which incorporates East Timor. At the height of the TV and newspaper coverage of the horrendous events one Australian travel agency refused to sell Indonesian holiday packages. The company, which was trying to redirect intending Indonesian (particularly Bali) tourists to Pacific Ocean destinations, abandoned the strategy after agreement was reached for a UN-sponsored peace keeping force to enter East Timor.

Bali's travel industry reacted strongly to these events in Australia. Of all the Indonesian islands Bali's economy is vitally dependant on tourism industry (see Tourism pages 66-78). The Internet newsletter Bali Update in September 1999 suggested the following things about Australia and its citizens:

"...(consider) the wider implications of their moves"

"...(East Timorese activists) turning our neighbouring continent of Australia into an island"

''...hell bent on punishing the citizens of the Republic (Indonesia) and tourist destinations such as Bali...based on the fallacious portrayal of Indonesia as a monolithic enemy worthy of universal condemnation"

"not unlike the American experience in Vietnam, Indonesia is finding it difficult to both physically and emotionally disengage itself from an area where, right or wrong, so many of its young men have died"

"...pause for a moment and soothe the spasms of their jerky knees..."

"...taken it upon themselves to...punish Indonesians over the events in East Timor"

A spokeswoman for the Australian airline Ansett said, "The safety of our staff and customers is our main priority...Bali is seen as being 'different' to the rest of Indonesia...we are maintaining operations as normal and are monitoring the situation through constant contact with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)". (The Australian, 23/9/99, page 25)

In September 1999 DFAT's warning to all Australian travellers, to all parts of Indonesia, including Bali was, "they should be aware they may become targets for criticism and should therefore stay away from large crowds"

Despite such warnings, Australians remain insatiable travellers, with a considerable adroitness for heading towards some of the world's most volatile trouble spots. Bob Whitty, Director of consular operations at DFAT pointed out in March 1999 that " Australians are tough and hardy travellers as well as generally being well informed". (The Australian, 3/3/99, page 11). The official statistics show that in 1997-98, 2.6 million Australians travelled overseas and that 19,000 sought general consular assistance at an embassy or high commission (of those the number who got themselves into real trouble was only a few hundred).

Apart from East Timor and other parts of Indonesia, some of DFAT's volatile hot spots - to be avoided include: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chechnya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Israel's occupied territories, Liberia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Pakistan, Rwanda, parts of Russia, Sierra Leone, parts of Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkey.

DFAT's special phone line for travel alerts on countries and regions like those listed above is 1300 555 135

Investigate more about this issue on the following web sites:

BBC News This site offers a useful way of linking into a range of news items on volatile hot spots around the world.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) This site contains DFAT's regularly updated travel advisory notes to alert travellers to risks involved in travelling to countries where the level of personal danger is high.

Hot topics on the weekly news This site contains internet based links to current information. It includes weekly updates on very contemporary news items.

Bali travel information This site contains 450 pages of Bali-related information including specialist information like the height of the waves for the surfing enthusiast to currency exchange, packing luggage tips, geographical, climate and cultural facts such as how to dress when visiting any of Bali's many temples.

Travel information from the US Department of State. This site operated by the United States Department of State provides detailed travel advice. This includes reports on wars, crime, roads, aviation systems, medical facilities and other essentials. At any one time up to several dozen countries and regions could be declared as 'unsafe' or 'off-limits'.

Travel warnings (US Department of State) can be found at this Department of State site.