KEY POINTS:
People are more worried about acts of terrorism in Bali than the risk of a bird flu outbreak, say travel agents.
Concerns about Bali as a holiday destination were heightened this week after tests confirmed a 29-year-old village woman from the western area of the island died from
bird flu, which seems likely to have also been the cause of death of her 5-year-old daughter a few days earlier.
They lived in the relatively isolated town of Negara, in the Jembrana district, where a 2-year-old neighbour with similar symptoms has now returned positive tests for the H5N1 strain of the disease after displaying bird flu symptoms.
After 82 deaths from bird flu in Indonesia, the country accounts for about half of all cases worldwide, but this was the first in the tourist destination of Bali.
Travel agents yesterday reported little concern from their clients about the risks.
None of those contacted by the Herald had had customers query or cancel their travel to Bali.
Steve Kirwan, manager of the Holiday Shoppe in Mt Eden, said Bali was not a popular destination anyway because of the fatal bombings in 2002 and 2005 which had targeted tourists.
"It's nowhere like it used to be."
According to Statistics New Zealand there were 10,843 short-term visitors to Indonesia in the year to December 2006 compared with 15,193 in the year to December 2002.
Mr Kirwan said the threat of terrorism remained a concern especially for less experienced travellers.
Meadowbank travel agent Stephanie Daji said only a few clients came in wanting to travel to Bali, which was not a very popular destination.
"It's not just the bombing, some question Indonesia's political system."
Ms Daji said travellers were more put off by what they could relate to, such as tourists being attacked by terrorists, than what happened to villagers in remote areas of the island.
While she could understand people's anxiety, Ms Daji said she had just returned from a holiday in Bali where she felt safe because of the security in place.
The health risk of the flu deaths has been fuelled by reports that villagers fed dead and dying chickens to pigs which could provide a vector for the disease to jump from birds to humans.
Health Minister Pete Hodgson said yesterday that the Indonesian authorities should be given time to find out whether pigs were involved before anyone started panicking.
"If it did involve pigs that could be potentially serious."
