Travel slump hits tsunami areas	東南亞旅游業經歷新一輪大滑坡
beautiful Sri Lanka Travel and tourism spending in countries hit by the December 26 tsunami is experiencing a renewed slump, after an initial recovery two months ago. The economies of the areas that were hit still remain fragile and are likely to take a lot longer to recover, according to fresh data from credit card firm Visa International. Spending by cardholders fell in April and May in Phuket, Maldives and Sri Lanka compared to last year -- all destinations that were hit by massive waves that killed an estimated 273,800 people and left thousands missing. The drop in spending coincided with the earthquake on the Indonesian island of Nias on March 28 and the resurgence in tsunami fears. Travel industry experts at a recent World Tourism Organization (WTO) conference in Bali also concluded that the recent spending slump corresponded with a drop in media coverage and interest in the affected areas. Figures released at the conference showed that credit card spending at Phuket in the week ending May 8 was 37 percent lower than the same week in 2004, despite being up by six percent in March. A similar picture occurred in the Maldives, where a recovery between February and March was followed by a 35 percent year-on-year decline in May. "We found that $3 billion is likely to be lost from the tourism industry in the region -- but that is turning out to be a conservative estimate," James Murray, Visa's executive vice-president for Southeast Asia, told the conference. According to a Visa survey conducted in March, travelers are still concerned about health and safety, as well as the state of the infrastructure in the affected areas. "Tourists need more information about the impact the tsunami has had on tourist facilities," said former U.S. president and special U.N. envoy Bill Clinton in a video message to the WTO conference. Tourism experts at the conference likened the impact of the tsunami to other problems that have hit the region, such as the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the Bali bombing of 2002. The travel industry took months to recover from both of those tragedies. According to data from Visa, the Indonesian island of Bali has shown 18 consecutive months of positive growth in credit card spending since November 2003. (Agencies)	去年12月26日在東南亞爆發的海嘯使當地的旅游業嚴重受挫。兩個月前，該地區的旅游業剛剛有所回升，而如今，這些國家的旅游業正經歷新一輪的滑坡。 威士國際信用卡公司的最新統計數據顯示，遭受海嘯襲擊的東南亞地區的經濟仍然十分脆弱，可能需要更長時間才能恢復正常。 與去年同期相比，信用卡持卡人今年四、五月份在普吉島、馬爾代夫群島和斯里蘭卡的消費有所下跌。這些度假圣地都遭受了海嘯襲擊，約27.38萬人在海嘯中喪生，數千人失蹤。 今年3月28日在印尼尼亞斯島發生的地震再次引發了人們對海嘯的恐懼，導致旅游消費再次下降。 近期在巴厘島舉行的世界旅游組織大會上，旅游業專家們推斷：該地區最近的旅游消費下跌與媒體對受海嘯影響地區的報道和關注減少有關。 世界旅游組織大會發布的數據顯示：5月2日到8日一周間，普吉島的信用卡消費比去年同期降低了37%，盡管3月份曾一度上升了6個百分點。 馬爾代夫群島也出現了類似的情況，今年2月和3月旅游業曾一度好轉，然而5月份與去年同期相比下降了35％。 威士公司東南亞地區執行副總裁詹姆士·默里在會上表示：“該地區旅游業的損失達30億美元，而那只是保守的估計。” 威士公司3月份的一項調查顯示，旅游者仍然對該受災地區的衛生、安全和基礎設施狀況表示擔憂。 美國前總統、聯合國特使比爾·克林頓通過視頻信息在世界旅游組織大會上說：“游客們需要更多信息來了解海嘯對旅游設施的影響。” 與會專家把海嘯的影響和發生在該地區的其他問題聯系起來，例如2003年爆發的SARS和2002年的巴厘島爆炸事件。該地區的旅游業花了數月時間才從上述兩次悲劇中恢復過來。 根據威士公司提供的數據，自2003年11月以來，印尼巴厘島已經連續18個月信用卡消費保持持續增長。 （中國日報網站譯）