VOA标准英语2009年-Political Instability, Violence Threat to

By Ron Corben
Bangkok
17 September 2009

Political violence has done considerable damage to tourism in Asia and the Pacific over the past few years. But industry experts say the damage is not necessarily permanent. Governments and industry leaders say much can be done to rebuild tattered¹ tourism reputations.
 
 
An Indian soldier takes cover as the Taj Mahal hotel burns during gun battle between Indian military and militants² inside the hotel in Mumbai
As the world watched, a small band of terrorists killed scores in Mumbai last November. Although India has often suffered from political violence, this attack - aimed largely at travelers and foreigners - was a new horror.
 
The globally televised attack, coming during an international economic slump³, contributed to an eight percent fall in tourist arrivals this year.
 
In Thailand, tens of thousands of anti-government protesters laid siege to Bangkok's airports late last year, essentially⁴ trapping more than 350,000 travelers in the country for a week. Before that shock had worn off, a few months later, another group of protesters led violent riots in Bangkok.
 
The two incidents added to the damage from the world economy cut tourist arrivals to Thailand by 20 percent in the first six months of 2009.
 
Phornsiri Manoharn, the chairwoman of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, says many tourists still worry that Thailand's political tensions could spoil their visits.
 
"When people saw any demonstration⁵ like that they associate with the closing of the airport," said Manoharn. "Even [though] we don't close [the airport] but they look like the demonstration, that they might and that's why they're afraid."
 
Tourism is important to the Asia-Pacific region. In Southeast Asia, it contributes over three percent to economic output. In some parts of the region, tourism accounts for 10 percent of employment; in the Pacific island nations of Fiji and Vanuatu, the figure is over 30 percent.
 
But as India and Thailand have seen, violence and instability quickly scare away visitors.
 
Recovery comes, but usually more slowly than after natural disasters.

John Koldowski is PATA's communications director.
 
"What we have seen in many cases is where there is some sort of intervention⁶ effect - it's been natural or no fault of anybody - the rebound⁷ has been very quick," he said. "Where there has been intent to cause harm as in the case of a say terrorist attack - and where there has been a long history of such attacks occurring in that destination or nearby destination, it takes a little longer to come back."
 
But with the right government and industry responses, visitors will return. For instance, in October 2002, bombs set off by Islamic militants on the island of Bali killed more than 200 people, most of them foreigners. The island, one of the world's most famous tourist destinations, saw arrivals fall by 36 percent in 2003.
 
Koldowski said the first bombings shocked the tourism industry. 
 
"Bali is a classic case there - it took some time [to recover] because it had never occurred there before - it was so dramatic and affected⁸ specific western tourists," he said.
 
But the Indonesian government cracked down on terrorists and boosted security. And tourism industry professionals worked hard to woo back visitors. When another attack three years later left 20 people dead, PATA reported that tourist arrivals were little affected.
 
And twin bombings at international hotels in Jakarta last July are expected to do little damage to tourism.
 
In South Asia, Sri Lanka and Nepal hope the end of long-running conflicts will entice⁹ more visitors.
 
Sri Lankan officials say the end of a civil war earlier this year brought a surge of interest from foreign investors¹⁰ and hotel operators.
 
Dileep Mudadeniya, Sri Lankan Tourism Promotion¹¹ Bureau managing director, says there are opportunities for tourism, particularly in areas long closed off by the war.
 
"North and east, which have not actually taken any kind of development for the last 20 years, virgin¹² beaches, land, monuments is available and the people also come and exploit something or look at something totally undiscovered," said Mudadeniya. "We are going on the line which is 'undiscovered, unspoiled, an island of authenticity¹³', which we can offer."
 
In Nepal, political agreements have ended a Maoist insurgency¹⁴ that lasted more than a decade.
 
 
Sharatsingh Bhandari
 
The minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sharatsingh Bhandari, says Nepal's transition from conflict to peace is in itself a tourism draw.
 
"Now we are going to form a new Nepal. So giving the message for the New Nepal and inviting¹⁵ the people to see, not only the prospect¹⁶ of tourism itself but even the process of transition of the political system from 'bullet to ballot¹⁷.' That was done successfully by the Nepalese themselves," he said.
 
Industry analysts¹⁸ say tourism in Asia is likely to expand rapidly over the next few years. But, the key, they say, is that governments find ways to prevent political violence, and act quickly to calm fears when it does happen.

 

1 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

6 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

7 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

10 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

11 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

12 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

13 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

14 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

15 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

16 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

17 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

18 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。