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Execution of Australian Convicts Will Not Affect Tourism: Bali Governor
Execution of Australian Convicts Will Not Affect Tourism: Bali Governor
DENPASAR ~
The governor of Bali believes that the increasing tensions in the relations between Indonesia and Australia due to the planned execution of two Australian convicts will not significantly affect tourism on the island.
“There will not be much impact,” Governor Made Mangku Pastika said on Friday.
Pastika added that he believes tourists from Australia will not stop visiting the island due to the planned execution of the leaders of the Bali Nine drug ring, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, because Bali has been the favorite tourist destination of a majority of the Australian population.
With regard to calls for a boycott that have been spread widely over Australian social media networks, he reiterated that Australian tourists will continue to visit Bali.
“What kind of boycott would they impose? Will they be banned from coming to Bali? Is such a ban allowed? Will the people (Australians) adhere to it?” he remarked.
In addition, Pastika, who is also the former chief of the Bali regional police command, stated that the police security measures that Australia has complained about were part of normal security procedures.
“They are part of police procedures and not a problem,” he affirmed.
Chan and Sukumaran, the two Australian citizens who will be executed soon, have already been transferred from Kerobokan Prison in Bali to Nusakambangan in Central Java, where the execution will be carried out.
Moreover, the Australian government has taken various efforts to cancel their execution, including proposing a prisoner swap that the Indonesian government firmly rejected, stating that it has no law regulating such a move.
Furthermore, the Association of Indonesian Tours & Travel Agencies (ASITA) shared the governor’s opinion, adding, “Australians who travel to Bali are repeat visitors (tourists who frequent Bali). They will not be concerned about the issue,” Chairman of ASITA Bali Ketut Ardana affirmed here on Wednesday.
According to Ardana, Australian tourists consider Bali their second home as the island is located close to the country.
Similarly, the issue over the boycott will not significantly affect tourist arrivals either.
“In Australia, there are rumors circulating about the boycott. However, the country’s political opponents also support the execution. There are both pros and cons,” he noted.
According to data revealed by the Central Bureau of Statistics, 991,923 Australian tourists visited Bali, an increase of 20 percent as compared to the number of tourists recorded the previous year.
Also, in January 2015, Bali recorded 85,059 tourist arrivals from Australia.
14 Comments
Governor I Made Mangku Pastika is making a serious miscalculation here. Australians will not have to be told to boycott Bali but will individually decide if they wish ever to again visit a country ( Indonesia and that includes Bali) where such barbarous acts are committed as the execution of two helpless men for internal political advantage.
No it will not affect Tourism…I wont boycott Bali over two drug smugglers .I respect the laws of Indonesia and the culture .If these two had done the same they wouldn’t be where they are today The people in Bali have done nothing to deserve this . The two Australians did so why would people who love Bali boycott it.If our media didn,t make it a reality show no one would care about them same as Corby it is in our faces all the time .These people are criminals not hero’s
Sooner these two peddlers of death and misery are executed the better..
Tourism will not be affected in any as a lot of the comments calling for a boycott of visiting Bali fall on deaf ears, opinion polls published in Australia show the majority support the death penalty and Indonesian sovereignty . All those against the death penalty have only popped up just recently if they had conviction they’d be protesting against America, China, Saudi Arabia etc etc.. but NO, not a word of protestation for anyone else sitting on death row they cherry pick what suits them for the moment..Once the vermin are done away with they will make a noise for a couple of days then all will be forgotten. that’s simply the Australian attitude, support the criminal and damn the victims of crime. We’ve had enough of Australian politicians back flipping on policy and promises, good to see your President not succumbing to the back flip on policy.
The two helpless men were planning on introducing poison in the form of drugs that could kill Australians. They knew the consequnces of their actions as it is printed in many different places including many areas of the airport, It may seem a harsh punishment, but it does fit the crime. Australians I have talked to will not boycott Bali and the majority agree with the punishment
“One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted.” Oscar Wilde
Killing people will never be the answer to anything…it just brutalises us all.
“In Australia, there are rumors circulating about the boycott. However, the country’s political opponents also support the execution. There are both pros and cons,” he noted.
What does this statement mean?..
Just another politician committing premeditated murder under the guise of law.
State sanctioned murder creates some of the worst serial killers than those who are punished!
IF there is anyone gaining political advantageis Tony Abbot and Julie Bishop. There are no gains for INdonesia if the execution were to happen, Indonesia is just practicing its laws. ABbot and Bishop is trying to gain trust and popularity from Aussies, by showing they have power to control other government, and I believe the AFP purposely told INdonesian government to capture them in INdonesia to make this plan to work. Its all political game by Australian-Indonesian Governent,
And no, tourism was stronger after Bali Bombing, Everyone knows its not the Balinese who commits this crime or murders. Why put Millions of Balinese life at stake (reliant in Tourism) just for the sake of two drug criminals.
Australians need to wake the *** up!
I am an australian and i am very much awake mark…i am thinking clearly and thinking for myself thankyou very much..if balinese people are reliant on tourist dollars then shame on…who?
Diana Pedrana, you are obviously not Australian as your post contains huge inaccuracies. The two men are not heroes but two men who committed a crime, trying to take drugs OUT of Indonesia,
who have spent the last ten years atoning for that crime. A crime which NO INDONESIAN would have received a death penalty for- Indonesian Kingpin Hangky Gunawan received 12 years in 2001 for the production of huge quantities of drugs within Indonesia.
Cole, you know very well that the Lowy Institute survey of Australians attitude to the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in December 2014 found 62 % of Australians opposed the execution- that is millions of australians, my friend.
Mark, I suspect you are not Australian as well. Tony Abbott and Julie Bishop and the other 100% of Australian Parliamentarians, all parties, who voted in favour of a motion in Parliament to support Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, to do all possible to persuade President Widodo to consider their appeal for clemency, and to grant mercy (convert their death sentence to a prison sentence) very much SPEAK for australians.
Bruce, you know perfectly well the Lowy Institute survey in december 2014 found more than 62% of Australians opposed the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran – that is many millions of Australians, my friend.
And I’m happy to take a bet those 62% are the educated, thoughtful, ethical ones with the interest and means to travel overseas…