Disaster in paradise - tsunami devastates James Bond island tourist attraction

Phuket, the spur-shaped island that dangles from the heel of Thailand, has proved itself big enough to absorb planeloads of tourists without damaging the isle too much. The holiday hub of the island is Patong, on a beautiful half-moon bay - into which the tidal wave was fatally funnelled, reports the Belfast Telegraph (UK).

Traditionally, travellers move on from Phuket to a film set: Koh Phi Phi is sold as "James Bond Island", because The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed here. More recently, it has become known as the island featured in the screen version of The Beach.

There are neither roads nor cars, but what passes for a high street is lined with travellers' temptations: Thai massages, American breakfasts and internet cafes. That beachside community has now been laid waste.

In the mainland resort of Krabi, one of the main attractions was a ride in a longtail boat, sweeping past rust-red cliffs stained with limestone and pitted with caves. On Boxing Day, the day-trip turned to horror.

From the Maldives to Malaysia, the Indian Ocean has become a seductive aquatic playground. Many holiday-makers laze on a beach that looks even better than the brochures promise, with dazzling sand, crystalline water and regulation swaying palm trees. Others indulge in a wide range of watersports in what are usually calm seas.

The high end of the market offers limitless luxury on secluded atolls in the Maldives, while backpackers travelling on a shoestring can rent beds in beachside bungalows in Sri Lanka or Thailand for a few dollars.

As the disaster showed, this study in tranquillity proved extremely fragile. Lonely Planet's seminal guide-book, Southeast Asia on a Shoestring, lists various "Dangers & Annoyances" in Thailand, from gem scams to drugged food and drink.

It does not mention the danger of tsunamis, because such a seismic cataclysm simply did not register on the scale of perceived risks.

The expectations were that any calamity was likely to be man-made. The focus of travel advice from the Foreign Office and other governments has been terrorism, from Islamists in southern Thailand or Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka. Indeed, the reason so few tourists were affected on the landmass closest to the epicentre, Sumatra, is that the area has been off-limits because of episodes of violence in north-west Indonesia.

The catastrophe highlighted the inevitable vulnerability of relatively poor countries. The resources of the rescue services were stretched almost to breaking point, while survivors are facing problems finding fresh water, food and proper sanitation.

The tsunami also revealed that some travellers are more vulnerable than others. Distraught British holiday-makers who are on package deals are being looked after by their tour operators. These holiday companies have had a great deal of recent experience in putting contingency plans in place, from terrorist attacks in Bali and Kenya to this autumn's hurricanes in the Caribbean and Florida.

This week they were flying empty aircraft to the affected areas to bring clients home. The focus will now switch to finding alternative destinations for UK travellers who had been planning to visit the region but whose planned accommodation has been wrecked or washed away.

The prospects for independent travellers are gloomier. While the UK's embassies and high commissions are providing some help, most of the backpackers caught away from the main resorts will have to fend for themselves. Those with imminent plans for independent trips to the region may also find themselves in difficulties.

Flights to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur are operating normally, and the fact that holiday arrangements for hundreds of travellers have been thrown into disarray does not oblige airlines to give refunds or allow visits to be postponed.

Compared with the scale of human tragedy in the region, the tribulations of UK travellers seem insignificant. Yet the rate of recovery for local communities will largely depend on the resilience of tourism.

For many of the territories afflicted by the tsunami, tourism is the main industry.

Requiring little capital and being heavily labour-intensive, it is ideally suited for developing countries. Yet tourism is also extremely susceptible to events, and to travellers' perceptions of risk.

The Sars epidemic dramatically cut tourism to east Asia, while the Bali bombings of 2002 cost millions of Indonesians their livelihoods. Indeed, Bali was entirely unaffected by the tsunami, but dozens of worried relatives contacted tour operators to check the safety of their loved ones.

The timing of the earthquake coincides woefully with the start of the main selling season for 2005 holidays. The UK's travel companies are investing heavily in persuading people to book now for holidays in the Mediterranean and further afield. For the industry as a whole, the Asian disaster may make travellers less inclined to commit to paying upfront for a holiday many months ahead. And with the UK's travel agencies open again for business this week, the only inquiries they are likely to get about South Asia will be from people seeking to cancel or amend existing bookings.

In fact, there are sound reasons for choosing to holiday in a region that has recently suffered a disaster, whether man-made or natural. Experience suggests that there is substantial lag between a destination recovering physically and the resurgence of tourism. Once the damage is repaired, visitors to the north-eastern part of the Indian Ocean can expect uncrowded resorts and low prices - and will make a crucial contribution to rebuilding the shattered economy.

One more concern needs to be addressed to restore confidence in tourism to the region: the issue of advance warning. Unlike the Pacific, there is no tsunami warning system in place for the Indian Ocean.

Thanks to `Ken` for the alert.

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