Lombok tourism in tatters after fatal quakes

It will be a struggle to recovery for lucrative sector struck on way up

A house in the Gangga area being destroyed yesterday for security reasons, after two deadly tremors hit the Indonesian island of Lombok in recent weeks, killing nearly 400 people. The earthquakes struck during the crucial tourism season, when hotels,
A house in the Gangga area being destroyed yesterday for security reasons, after two deadly tremors hit the Indonesian island of Lombok in recent weeks, killing nearly 400 people. The earthquakes struck during the crucial tourism season, when hotels, local businesses and seasonal workers earn the bulk of their annual revenue. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

SENGGIGI • The powerful earthquakes that struck the Indonesian island of Lombok in recent weeks killing nearly 400 people have sent holidaymakers fleeing, raising questions about how its lucrative tourism sector will bounce back.

Two deadly tremors a week apart - accompanied by dozens of aftershocks - wrought widespread damage on homes and livelihoods, striking during the crucial tourism season, when hotels, local businesses and seasonal workers earn the bulk of their annual revenue.

Updating its figures yesterday, Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency said the death toll stood at 392, with 387,000 people displaced. It estimated that the financial loss in Lombok and Bali has reached 2 trillion rupiah (S$190 million).

In the Gili Islands, a popular backpacker and diving destination just off Lombok's northern coast, thousands of terrified tourists jostled on powder-white beaches for departing boats. Lombok's airport was briefly crammed with holidaymakers rushing to get flights out, while the main tourist strip of Senggigi has been left deserted.

Mr Alfan Hasandi depended on peak season tourists to see his family through the rest of the year.

He and his brothers ran a now shuttered business on one of the islands, Gili Air - offering boat tickets, snorkelling, trekking and vehicle rentals, usually earning five million rupiah (S$474) a day during peak season.

"We hope we can rebuild... but it's impossible because people are still traumatised," the 25-year-old told AFP. "Our homes have been completely destroyed... We don't have money to rebuild, we need help."

  • MASSIVE TOLL

  • 392 Number of people killed in the earthquakes that struck the Indonesian island of Lombok recently.

    387,000 Number of people who have been displaced.

Located in one of the most tectonically active areas in the world, Indonesians are used to natural disasters and its tourism industry has bounced back from catastrophes in the past. But for Lombok, the quakes struck at an especially cruel time, when the island's tourism industry was on the way up.

Dubbed "The Island of a Thousand Mosques", Muslim-majority Lombok was always a less-travelled destination than its bigger neighbour Bali, the Hindu-majority island that forms the backbone of Indonesia's US$19.4 billion (S$26.6 billion) tourist sector.

Lombok had been earmarked as one of President Joko Widodo's "10 new Balis" with the regional government hoping to develop it into a major destination.

Its residents now have to repair and rebuild, hoping that spooked tourists will return. Senggigi would normally be bustling with visitors this time of year. Now boats lie idle along its main beach, restaurants and hotels have been shuttered on its main strip and the usual stream of touts offering services has dried up.

"We don't know whether we can operate again in September," Ms Susi Hayati, manager of the Asmara restaurant, told AFP.

Mr Ketut Jaya, manager of the nearby Holiday Resort Lombok, said it might be a month before they could start taking guest bookings again. Just 19 of the resort's 189 rooms were occupied by hardy tourists who decided not to leave after the quake.

Analysts predict tourism in the region will recover after short-term pain.

Indonesia's tourism sector has been robust in the face of major crises before, including natural disasters like the 2004 tsunami and terror attacks such as the 2002 Bali bombings. "The impact is not as big as a tsunami and the (Lombok) airport is still open," Mr Tedjo Iskandar, a Jakarta-based travel analyst with TTC Travel Mart, told AFP.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 13, 2018, with the headline Lombok tourism in tatters after fatal quakes. Subscribe