Indonesian Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the recent bird flu outbreak, which killed six Indonesians so far, had not discouraged tourists from visiting Indonesia.

"I've contacted major tourist destination areas, including Bali,Yogyakarta and Jakarta, as well as other tourist centers and been informed that tourist arrivals have not been affected by the bird flu outbreak," Jero Wacik was quoted by official news agency Antara as saying.

"The American ambassador (B. Lynn Pascoe), who participated in a meeting on social welfare, said that his government would not issue a travel warning regarding the bird flu outbreak in Indonesia as it was not only the problem of Indonesia but also Asia and the world," the minister said.

He admitted there were fears among domestic tourists after the temporary closure of Ragunan Zoo on Sept. 19 after a number of birds in the zoo were found to have been infected by the disease. The zoo will be closed for 21 days.

But he expressed confidence that the zoo would be open before Idul Fitri.

The government has targeted 6 million tourist arrivals to the country next year, and 10 million by 2009. By June of this year, just over 2 million tourists had visited Indonesia.

(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2005)