Foreign tourists should not fear visiting NTT

id Marius

Foreign tourists should not fear visiting NTT

East Nusa Tenggara Tourism Office Chief Marius Ardu Jelamu

"All tourist attractions in NTT are safe. Hence, tourists need not be excessively afraid of visiting the province," Marius Ardu Jelamu said.
Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (AntaraNews NTT) - East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Tourism Office Chief Marius Ardu Jelamu has called on foreign tourists to not harbor apprehensions over visiting the province following several terror incidents in Indonesia.

"All tourist attractions in NTT are safe. Hence, tourists need not be excessively afraid of visiting the province," Jelamu remarked here on Thursday (17/5).

Recent incidents of terror in the form of bombings in Sidoarjo, Surabaya, and Riau have prompted some 14 countries to issue travel advisories to their citizens intending to travel to Indonesia.

"The travel advisories by these countries is natural to protect their citizens, but it is not a travel warning that can have a negative impact on the flow of foreign tourists into Indonesia, including East Nusa Tenggara," Jelamu explained.

Furthermore, he stated that various tourist areas in the province, including national flagship destinations in Labuan Baju, West Manggarai District, are so far safe for visitors.

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Earlier, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya had remarked in Jakarta on Wednesday that the travel advisories issued by 14 countries to their citizens has not affected Indonesia`s tourism sector.

"The Ministry of Tourism is monitoring the situation continuously. We are grateful that there has been no cancellation of visits to Indonesia, especially Bali. Bali is a barometer, but we are obligated to announce such incident (suicide bombing)," Yahya stated at the presidential palace on Wednesday.

The 14 countries that have issued travel advisories are the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Poland, Ireland, Canada, France, the Philippines, Switzerland, and Brazil.

"We have to be honest in this matter. We must immediately make an announcement if the situation returns to normal, similar to the time when we had announced the Sarinah bombing. We announced the incident within four hours after the condition had returned to normal," Yahya added.

The minister said his side had checked the country`s three main destinations -- Bali, Jakarta, and Riau islands -- and no cancellations had been made.

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