Ban on RI airlines to EU deals blow to tourism sector

Makassar (ANTARA News) - The European Commission`s plan to ban all 51 Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe will deal a major blow to the tourism sector as the region is the traditional market for the Indonesian tourism, an executive said.

"The European Commission`s step to ban Indonesian airlines from flying to the region is too excessive because it will have an extraordinary impact on tourist arrivals," chief of the South Sulawesi chapter of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) H Andi Ilhamsyah Mattalatta said here Friday.

Garuda Indonesia`s decision to stop serving scheduled flights to Frankruft, Germany, last year already had a large impact on tourist arrivals, the more so if the European Commission banned all 51 Indonesian airlines from flying to the region, he said.

The government must soon lobby the commission to cancel the ban for the sake of the tourism sector which was suffering a blow due to the monetary crisis since a decade ago, he said.

He said the government must be able to convince the commission that the security conditions in Indonesia were quite conducive and all airlines in the country had been trying their best to improve flight safety.

Domestic security played a decisive role in promoting the tourism sector and therefore, the government must pay attention to the security issue besides promoting the tourism sector abroad more vigorously, he said.

Given the ban on Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe, the country would find it hard to achieve the target of six million tourist arrivals for 2007, he said.

"We must continue to launch more promotion campaigns in the region as we have done so far. And the role of diplomats in promoting the Indonesian tourism is badly needed," he said.

The European Commission said on Thursday all Indonesian airlines and several from Russia, Ukraine and Angola will be banned from flying to the European Union due to safety concerns.

The EU experts have recommended the ban which will be effective on July 6 in response to a series of air accidents in Indonesia early this year.

However, no Indonesian airline is operating scheduled flights to any European destination. Garuda Indonesia ceased regular services to Amsterdam and Rome in 2005.