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Indonesia introduces disaster management and mitigation program for tourism sector
Sitting astride the Ring of Fire leaves Indonesia vulnerable to natural disasters, especially earthquakes, which are occasionally accompanied by tsunamis.
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A collapsed mosque is seen in Palu, Central Sulawesi on October 1, 2018. The Indonesian government has introduced a crisis management and mitigation program in the country's tourism sector, which is often hit by natural disasters. (AFP/Jewel Samad)
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ndonesia has introduced a nationwide crisis management and mitigation program for the tourism sector with three provinces Riau islands, West Java and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) being chosen for pilot projects.
The crisis management and mitigation program will be gradually implemented in all parts of Indonesia, which lies between the Ring of Fire along the northeastern islands adjacent to and including New Guinea and the Alpide belt along the south and west from Sumatra, Java, Bali, Flores and Timor.
Sitting astride the Ring of Fire leaves Indonesia vulnerable to natural disasters, especially earthquakes, which are occasionally accompanied by tsunamis.
Guidelines and the handling of crisis management and mitigation are stipulated in Regulation No. 10/2019 which was issued by the Tourism Ministry recently.
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said on Monday the crisis management provides guidance and guidelines for central government and regional administrations on how to act and mitigate when disaster strikes. In the next few months, Arief said an intensive dissemination to stakeholders and regional government would be carried out.
The crisis management and mitigation encompasses four major aspects; preparedness and mitigation, emergency response, recovery and normalization. “Disasters cannot be avoided. What is important for us is how to handle them, how to mitigate them. If we act properly from the start, we will not incur such huge losses,” he said.
Since 2017, Indonesia has been hit by a series of disasters that have severely affected the country’s tourism sector. In September 2017, the eruption of Mount Agung in Bali led to a sharp decline in tourist arrivals in Bali and nationwide. Data from Statistics Indonesia showed foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia in September of that year totaled only 1.21 million people, lower than the 1.4 million people in the same month in 2016. The decline continued in the remaining months of the year.
