Tourism team in shock in Auckland

A repeat of the Bali bombings has left a visiting group of Balinese tourism promoters in a state of shock.

They arrived in New Zealand to publicise the attractions of their homeland, only to hear it had been ripped apart by another terrorist attack.

Eighteen representatives of Bali Village, a non-profit organisation representing almost 200 tourism-affiliated industries in the Indonesian resort island, are in Auckland as part of an Australasian promotional tour.

The group of mainly hoteliers and tour operators had planned to give a tabletop presentation to industry representatives at an inner-city hotel tonight but developments at home have forced a rethink.

Speaking through representative Maman Baboe, the group were yesterday still keen to push ahead with their scheduled meeting, although in a revised format.

Mr Baboe, who manages web portal indonz.com, said the group is still assessing its options, and will issue a response today. Heavily dependent on the tourist dollar, Bali has only just begun to recover from the first attack, although warnings of a further attack had been received.