The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : REBUILDING TOURISM

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Thursday, Jan 20, 2005

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REBUILDING TOURISM

REBUILDING THE TOURISM infrastructure and reviving an industry that provides livelihood to large numbers of people is a significant part of the ongoing efforts of governments to rehabilitate tsunami-hit areas in some of the Indian Ocean states. From Indonesia to East Africa, several coastal zones devastated by the December 26 tsunami were tourism hot spots. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives have suffered a body blow in this respect, although it is fisherfolk and other vulnerable sections of the coastal population who accounted for the bulk of the death toll and the loss of livelihood and property. Such an extensive calamity has a two-fold impact on the tourism industry — first, the basic infrastructure is lost, and secondly, a fear psychosis develops in the minds of tourists. Phuket in Thailand and the southern tourist haunts of Sri Lanka and the Maldives may be typical examples. Recurrent visual images of the giant waves engulfing hotels and washing away tourists along with thousands of local people and the lists of thousands `missing' tend to have a powerful psychological impact on prospective tourists, who may now think of `safer places.'

Considering the importance of the tourism industry to these economies and in particular to the livelihood of the tsunami-hit local population, governments and the private sector that runs hotels, resorts, and the panoply of entertainment, recreational, and other requisites of tourism need to come together to firm up ecologically sensible plans to rebuild the infrastructure and launch fresh marketing campaigns. This effort has to be undertaken in a coordinated way at the local, national, and international levels. Many small hotel and resort owners will need assistance to make a fresh start. Reliable assessments of the damage inflicted by the tsunami are, or soon will be, in hand in all the affected countries, and the private sector must be ready with plans to redevelop the facilities washed away or damaged by the tsunami. Many of the victims will need access to funds at lower rates of interest if they are to have any chance of making it back into the tourism business. November-February is when the tourist season tends to peak in South and Southeast Asia, when the bulk of European and American tourists, making a getaway from winter, choose to come on vacation. The tsunami struck at the epicentre of the tourist season, `Boxing Day', the day after Christmas.

In Indonesia, Aceh, which bore the brunt of the devastation, has not exactly been a tourist attraction; as a hot spot of secessionist militancy and official repression, it has suffered a double calamity. But a few tourism centres in Sumatra have also been devastated. Phuket in Thailand and the southern beach resorts in Sri Lanka have been the major tourist attractions knocked out by the tsunami. In India, damage to the tourist centres has been far less, with the exception of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, parts of which like Malacca took a terrible blow. Mamallapuram in the vicinity of Chennai and a few resorts in Kollam have also been hit. In rehabilitation, the psychological barrier needs to be addressed as a priority. Along with the effort to install a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean region, it is essential to undertake a tourism-revival campaign that is ecologically sound and forward-looking and sensitive to the livelihood concerns of vulnerable coastal communities. Considering that tsunamis strike only once or twice in a century, the governments of the affected countries and the tourism industry, including airlines, would do well to launch an effective road show to demonstrate that lessons have been learned and it is safe for tourists to come back.

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