Businesses Worry about Tsunami on Tourism: West Java

When the tsunami struck the southern coastline of Java it caused immense damage. Not only to residents living in the area but also businesses and tourism in the area.

On an ordinary afternoon in this once bustling resort town, foreign and local tourists would browse through handicrafts at thatch-roofed kiosks as children played in the sand or ran out to sea clutching surfboards.

Now after Monday's tsunami washed away stores, homes and restaurants, the beaches are abandoned except for rescue workers digging for the dead and people who relied on tourism are wondering if business will ever be the same.

The full extent of damage along a 180 kilometer stretch of Java's southern coastline remains to be seen but Pangandaran was among the worst hit areas. More than 690 people were killed and another countless others are missing in the tsunami.

A Businessman Sirkusumo Sudjanarko who owns the Bunga Laut seaside hotel on Pangandaran said his business has been devastated. He lost bungalows and a restaurant and in his opinion the tourists will avoid the area for years to come.

Though Pangandaran used to be popular with foreign backpackers, well-heeled tourists and busloads of Indonesian families it was struggling to lure back tourists even before the waves hit during the week.

"Actually tourism has yet to fully recover to the level before the Bali bombing in 2002" Sudjanarko said. And thousands of people who work in shops, bars, hotels or as tour guides at a monkey-infested nature reserve overlooking the beach fear things are about to get worse.

Lilianti Bachtiar who runs the Grand Mutiara Hotel grabbed her grandchildren from their rooms when she heard neighbours screaming and ran to the second floor of the building.

"The waves broke down the walls and washed away the car. We don't have a business anymore" she said from a run-down motel in nearby Banjar. "It will be at least a year before we have recovered."