Bomb blast at Newmont's Mataram office scares off tourists

The bomb blast which hit the fence of the representative office of copper and gold mining operator PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) in Mataram, the provincial capital of the West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province on Friday has scared off foreign tourists visiting the resort island, Tempo Interaktif reported on Tuesday.

The on-line news provider said that many foreign tourists had cancelled their visits to the resort island following the bomb blast, which destroyed part of the fence of the company's representative office but caused to no injuries.

Several five star hotels on the Lombok island said that many tourists especially from the United States, Europe and Japan had cancelled their room reservations following the reports of the bomb blast.

Kunto Widiatmoko, the sales manager of the five star hotels in the province, complained that the local hotel industry would take time to regain back the foreign tourists' confidence. (*)