Denpasar

Executive Director of Bali HotelAssociation ‘Djinaldi Gosana’ and Head of Association of the Indonesia Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA) ‘Al Purwa’ expressed their concern here Tuesday over the negative impact the recent flood in Jakarta would have on the country's tourism image, particularly as it had just kicked off the 2008 tourism campaign.

"What we should worry about is the impact of the flood on the image we would like to present to the world during the 2008 Visit Indonesia Year," executive director of Bali Hotels Association Djinaldi Gosana said.

"The news of the closure of the Soekarno-Harta International airport must have traveled far and wide in the international community by now," said ASITA head Al Purwa, adding that such an incident wasn't the kind of positive image the country's tourism industry wanted to convey to its global potential market.

The flood that inundated a strip of toll road leading to the airport forced the closure of Soekarno-Hatta International airport from Friday to Sunday. It was reopened Monday morning.

More than 200 domestic and international flights were delayed during the closure, which also affected the arrival times of around 14 flights to Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport.

Al Purwa welcomed the government's decision to construct an elevated road along the flood-prone strip of the toll road as a way to cope with possible flooding in the future.

"The government should carry out that plan as soon as possible," he said.