Jakarta - Indonesia‘s tourism industry has expressed regret the EU Commission on Transportation is extending its ban on Indonesian airlines for another three months.
The trade urged the government to continue to improve its control on airline operation safety and to continue using international lobbying channels to change the EU decision.
Meanwhile, the industry is bracing itself and MarinTur president director, Ms Hasiyanna Rainier, suggested focusing on other markets other than Europe for the time being.
While the ban has had minimum impact on Bali, Lombok - which depends primarily on the European market - has suffered.
Sheraton Senggigi Beach Resort, Lombok general manager, Mr Masri, said: "The European market makes up 35 per cent to 40 per cent of our business, and the majority of the market combines Lombok and Bali...we depend a lot on air access.
"What we are going to do now is to focus on the regional and domestic markets."
Meanwhile, minister of communications, Mr Jusman Syafii Djamal, would send a letter of protest to the EU Commission on Transportation, for its "discriminative decision".
"There is no reason for extending the ban when the technical problems have been solved," he said.
Mr Djamal said the government would appeal to the International Civil Aviation Organization to formulate stipulations on airline bans to avoid one-sided decisions. He said Indonesia did not want to engage in a banning war, as it would negatively impact the airline business in general.
Source: www.budpar.go.id (5 Desember 2007)
