Lessons from Mt Agung's Highest Alert: Information Gaps Hit Tourism and Communities

Mount Agung in Bali has remained at the highest alert level, Awas (Warning), with the timing of a potential eruption still unpredictable. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate, most of them unprepared, leaving behind their homes, farms, and livestock in a rush.

A key issue highlighted is the lack of clear information about which zones were actually dangerous. Many evacuees only learned that their homes were located in a safe zone after they had already reached evacuation centers.

This information gap has also affected Bali's tourism industry. Foreign tourist arrivals this year had been expected to reach 6 million, up 1 million from the previous year, but arrivals fell by 20 percent within a month of the Awas status being declared. Several countries issued temporary travel warnings related to Mt Agung.

Ironically, part of the drop in tourist numbers stemmed from a lack of accurate information. Tourism Minister Arief Yahya had to issue a statement reassuring the public that Bali was safe and that only about 2 percent of the island would be affected by an eruption. This reveals that regional government agencies and disaster management institutions were not adequately prepared for this potential disaster. Mt Agung's last eruption was in 1963, relatively recent in geological terms.

Indonesia has drawn lessons from past disasters, including the 2004 Aceh tsunami and the 2010 eruptions of Mt Merapi and Mt Sinabung. Even so, the country was not sufficiently prepared when Mt Agung became active again. This situation underscores the need for greater efforts to improve public and official understanding of natural disasters.

Regional governments are urged to continue disseminating information on at-risk areas and disaster response procedures. Japan, an earthquake-prone country that teaches schoolchildren from an early age how to respond to earthquakes, offers a useful model. Given Indonesia's many active volcanoes, disaster preparedness awareness should be promoted as part of the country's tourism strategy.