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US President Barack Obama’s cancelled trip to Central Java and Yogyakarta was a major blow to the provinces’ tourism industries, a public relations expert said over the weekend.

Deddy Pranowo Eryono, head of the Yogyakarta Public Relations Body and secretary of the local branch of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA), believed the reversal was related to security concerns.

“This is a very huge hit because tourism in these provinces is still considered unsafe by foreign tourists,” Dedy said.

Obama and his family were expected to visit Borobudur Temple during his trip, slated for later this month, but will head to Bali instead.

The Adi Soemarmo airport in Solo, which is managed by PT Angkasa Pura I, received a letter from the US Consulate announcing the cancellation of the trip.

Deddy said people and policy makers involved in the tourism sector in Yogyakarta and Central Java had much to learn from the Balinese, especially in regards to their behavior, attitude, openness and local wisdom.

“Bali has been bombed several times, causing the deaths of hundreds of foreign tourists, but they were able to rise up and show the world that the area is safe to visit,” he said.

Although Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Jakarta, is deeply popular in Indonesia, opposition to his visit by Muslim groups is growing.

Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a conservative Muslim group that views Israel as an illegal entity, threatened over the weekend to gather 5,000 ulema , or religious scholars, from East Java to protest Obama’s visit in front of the US Consulate in Surabaya.

“This is a form of our protest against the US, which has been mauling Moslem people around the world,” said Khoiri Sulaiman, head of the East Java branch of the organization, which has a million members worldwide.

“The West is still torturing and killing Muslims so we have agreed to reject Obama as an act of solidarity with our brothers and sisters who have been suffering because of the US and its accomplices.”