Earthquake rattles tourism industry Lombok plans next move to halt financial losses

My focus now is to tidy the remaining intact rooms, provide a service for tourists who hopefully will still come here during the current peak season.”

MATARAM, Indonesia — Hotels in Indonesia’s Lombok that were damaged by the recent magnitude 7.0 earthquake plan to reopen as soon as possible to attract tourists.

Most of the hotels in the west coast town of Senggigi, a popular beach resort, have been closed for repairs since last Sunday’s deadly quake, with damage ranging from cracks in the walls to nearcollapse.

Lombok’s tourism industry has gone from “high season to nothing” since the tragedy. Once-bustling villages have been turned into virtual ghost towns and tourism businesses such as hotels owners have suffered heavy financial losses in what are usually the busiest months of the year.

There is also the risk of more quakes in the region.

Andry, owner of Central Inn near Senggigi, estimated that his losses may reach around 3 billion rupiah (about $207,000).

Some luxury rooms built last year were destroyed by the quake, he said while supervising workers cleaning up debris.

According to Andry, electricity supplies in hotels started to resume after repairs were carried out by state power firm PLN two days after the earthquake.

Andry still has no idea about what he should do with the damaged luxury rooms as there are cracks on the walls.

“My focus now is to tidy the remaining intact rooms, provide a service for tourists who hopefully will still come here Andry,

owner of Central Inn near Senggigi

during the current peak season,” Andry said.

Coordinated by the Indonesia Tourism Ministry, rebuilding efforts in the islands are being jointly carried out by the Indonesian military, police and PLN.

Thousands of foreign tourists had been stranded for several days in Lombok’s Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air islands after the quake.

Joint operations have evacuated the trapped tourists and transported them to Lombok island and adjacent Bali.

The Indonesian Ministry of Transportation have also provided boats to help foreign tourists as shuttle boats between islands have not resumed operations.

Still traumatized

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 Gili Air, offering boat tickets, snorkeling, trekking and vehicle rentals, usually earning 5 million rupiah a day during peak season.

“We hope we can rebuild ... but it’s impossible because people are still traumatized,” the 25-year-old said. “Our homes have been completely destroyed ... We don’t have money to rebuild, we need help.”

Indonesia Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said that those efforts were part of the government’s initiative to ensure the comfort and safety of foreign tourists in a bid to save the tourism industry.

Located in the 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.

The magnitude 7.0 quake and aftershocks have killed 387 people, injured 13,688 and displaced 387,067 people, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency Spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho on Saturday.

The death toll may rise further as many bodies were still trapped under ruined buildings, said Sutopo.