 | | The bombing caused many death |
It should be the height of the season in Bali. In past years, tourists from around the world besieged the vacation island at Christmas and New Year's to surf, party or laze beside the pool. Not this year. At a five-star resort normally packed during Christmas, few people were sunbathing, no one was cooling off in the luxurious pool and the golf course was empty. "It has been like this since the bombings. The rich are afraid of death so they just choose to go to other places," said a staff member at one of Bali's top hotels. At least 190 people, about half of them Australian tourists, died in the Oct. 12 Kuta nightclub bombings. A year ago, those nightclubs were packed with revelers. This year, the site of the blasts is a memorial to the dead and is among the most-visited places in Bali by tourists and Balinese. Gde Pitana, head of the Bali Tourism Authority, is optimistic Bali will rebound six months after the tragedy, arguing massive media coverage of the incident had been a boon in terms of free advertising for the island. "The tragedy has put Bali on a high position. Nobody blames Bali. And the progress achieved by the police is incredible," he said, referring to the arrests of a number of key suspects. But while few people blame Bali for the tragedy, that view has yet to bring back tourists haunted by fear of more attacks. Foreign tourist arrivals reached their lowest ever in November since records began in 1997. Last month, there were only 31,000 tourists, compared with the pre-blast figure of about 100,000 tourists per month. At a wood-carving workshop in the central Bali, owner Made Budiarsa said most of his 75 craftsmen often sleep around huge chunks of log during working hours. "Usually we get heaps of orders, but now, after carvings are done, no order comes in. So we don't know what to do. " he said, adding business was at its worst since the shop opened 20 years ago. (Agencies) | 现在本应是巴厘岛最繁忙的旅游旺季。 往年的圣诞和新年期间，游客从世界各地蜂拥而至。他们在这里冲浪、聚会或者悠闲地在泳池边消磨时间。 然而，今年，这样的景象却再也看不到了。 以往圣诞期间通常爆满的五星级度假胜地，如今已没什么人来晒日光浴，豪华的泳池里空无一人，高尔夫球场也关闭了。 一家巴厘岛高级酒店的工作人员说："自从爆炸发生后，情况就一直是这样了。有钱人怕死，所以他们宁愿去别的地方。"  | | 以前的巴厘岛是旅游胜地 |
据报道，至少有190人在10月12日的库塔夜总会爆炸案中丧生，其中约一半是来自澳大利亚的游客。 一年以前，那些夜总会总是人满为患。而今年，爆炸发生的地点成了纪念死者的地方，也是观光者和巴厘岛居民常去的几处景点之一。 巴厘岛旅游局局长格德·皮坦那却仍然很乐观。他相信在悲剧发生的6个月之后，巴厘岛的旅游业会重新崛起。他还说，媒体对爆炸案的大规模报道已经成为对巴厘岛十分有益的免费广告。 在谈到目前已经几名主要嫌疑犯被捕时，他说："惨剧把巴厘岛放到了一个很高的位置上。没有人责怪巴厘岛。而警方所取得的进展也很迅速，令人满意。"。 然而，尽管很少有人责怪巴厘岛，但这并不能把害怕再次遭袭的游客重新拉回巴厘岛。 今年11月，巴厘岛的游客只有3万1千多人，创1997年以来的最低记录。而在爆炸发生前，平均每月的游客人数高达10万。 在巴厘岛中心的一家木雕作坊，老板马德·布迪尔萨说他手下有75名工匠，大多数人在上班时间都在大块的木头边打瞌睡。 他说："以前我们总是定单不断。但现在，完成手头的工作后，就再没有新的定单来了。我们不知道该怎么办。"他还说，这是开店20年来生意最差的一段时间。 （中国日报网站译） |
Updated: 2002-12-27 01:00
