1997 tourism growth rates rocked by the haze<\/p>\n
By I. Christianto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The thick haze which blanketed most parts of
\nSumatra and Kalimantan for several months has resulted in
\nsignificantly reduced tourist arrivals this year.<\/p>\n
Many foreign tourists from the United States, Europe and other
\nindustrialized nations such as Japan canceled their trips due to
\nthe choking haze, caused by forest fires in the country's two
\nlargest islands.<\/p>\n
The haze, which also affected neighboring Singapore and
\nMalaysia not only raised concerns about air quality but also
\ntravel safety, especially after an Airbus A-300 airplane owned by
\nstate-owned Garuda Indonesia crashed in late September just
\nbefore it was due to land at Polonia Airport in Medan, North
\nSumatra. All 234 people on board died.<\/p>\n
The regional currency crisis, which has blighted Indonesia
\nsince early July, made Indonesia a cheaper place to visit but not
\nenough to overcome people's fears over air safety.<\/p>\n
Tourists from other Southeast Asian countries affected by the
\ncurrency crisis also stayed away in significant numbers in the
\npast several months.<\/p>\n
They are clearly feeling the pinch following regional
\ncurrencies depreciating by between 30 percent and 60 percent
\nagainst the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n
Tourism officials estimate the number of foreign tourist
\narrivals will increase by only 2.67 percent to 5.16 million this
\nyear, making it the smallest rise in the last 10 years.<\/p>\n
In the past few years the growth rate has averaged more than
\n20 percent per annum.<\/p>\n
Foreign tourists' spending is also expected to increase by
\nonly 6.49 percent to about US$6.71 billion. This year's level
\nwill be much lower than the average of 20 percent in previous
\nyears.<\/p>\n
Last year, about 5.03 million foreign tourists visited
\nIndonesia, spending some $6.3 billion. Last year's growth rates
\nwere 16.42 percent in terms of the number of arrivals and 20.64
\npercent in terms of spending.<\/p>\n
Record low<\/p>\n
The first record low in the number of foreign tourist arrivals
\nhappened in 1995 when unfounded reports about cholera in Bali
\nspread to Japan and other rich countries.<\/p>\n
The growth rate in overseas tourist arrivals was only 7.9
\npercent in that year while the expenditure growth rate was only
\n9.3 percent.<\/p>\n
Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave
\nadmitted Monday that this year's growth rates could be the worst
\nin the last 10 years.<\/p>\n
Indonesia originally expected to see between 5.3 million and
\n5.7 million international tourist arrivals this year. Revenue
\ngenerated from the foreign tourists was initially estimated to
\ntotal between $6.64 billion and $7.14 billion.<\/p>\n
The government has also revised its targets for 1998. Foreign
\ntourist arrivals are projected to be 5.7 million instead of the
\noriginal target of between 6 million and 6.5 million. Foreign
\nexchange earnings from tourism are expected to total about $7.14
\nbillion, less than the original target of between $7.51 billion
\nand $8.14 billion.<\/p>\n
The country expects the tourist industry to become the
\ncountry's biggest foreign exchange earner by the end of the
\nSeventh Five Year Development Plan period in 2004.<\/p>\n
Tourism was the country's sixth largest foreign exchange
\nearner in 1985, earning around $525 million, behind oil and gas,
\ntimber, rubber, textiles and coffee. In 1995, tourism, which
\nearned $5.2 billion from foreigners, was ranked third after oil
\nand gas exports ($10.46 billion) and textiles ($6.2 billion).<\/p>\n
Downturn<\/p>\n
The director general of tourism, Andi Mappi Sammeng, said the
\ngovernment had anticipated a downturn in foreign tourist arrivals
\nin the first semester of this year, but not in the following
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
"We forecast fewer visitors to Indonesia in the first six
\nmonths of 1997 due to political reasons such as the general
\nelection in May," he said.<\/p>\n
Sporadic riots that rocked several areas in Indonesia starting
\nin late 1996 and early this year also contributed to the decline
\nin tourist arrivals to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
A number of star-rated hotels in the capital reported slight
\ndrops in occupancy rates shortly before, during and after the
\ncampaign which started a month before the general election last
\nMay.<\/p>\n
In the January to June period this year 2.1 million tourists
\nvisited Indonesia, up by only 1.56 percent over the same period
\nin 1996.<\/p>\n
Tourist arrivals in October plunged 7.7 percent from a year
\nago to 321,536. However, the total number of foreign visitors in
\nthe 10 months to October still increased by 14.1 percent to
\n3,525,327 from a year ago.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is not alone. According to media reports, tourism
\nin Singapore will have unchanged or negative growth in 1998.<\/p>\n
Andi admitted that the government had not anticipated the
\nforest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra several months ago and the
\nconsequential drastic drop in tourist arrivals during the second
\nhalf the year.<\/p>\n
"It has seriously affected the image of Indonesia due to the
\nwidely publicized reports by overseas media," he said<\/p>\n
Minister Joop Ave, meanwhile, has rejected arguments that the
\nrecent Singapore SilkAir Boeing B-737-300 plane crash would also
\naffect foreign tourist arrivals.<\/p>\n
The crash near Palembang, South Sumatra last Friday killed
\nall 104 passengers on board.<\/p>\n
"The government has nothing to do with that as the airline is
\nnot owned by Indonesia," he said.<\/p>\n
Table: Foreign tourist arrivals and expenditures in Indonesia<\/p>\n
Year Arrivals Foreign Exchange Growth Rate (%)<\/p>\n
(US$ million) Arrivals Earnings<\/p>\n
---------------------------------------------------------<\/p>\n
1987 1,060,437 874.3 28.53 48.06<\/p>\n
1988 1,301,049 1,024 22.68 17.12<\/p>\n
1989 1,625,965 1,284.5 24.97 25.43<\/p>\n
1990 2,177,566 2,105.29 33.92 63.89<\/p>\n
1991 2,569,870 2,522.01 18.01 19.79<\/p>\n
1992 3,064,161 3,278.19 19.23 29.98<\/p>\n
1993 3,403,138 3,986.58 11.06 21.6<\/p>\n
1994 4,006,312 4,785.26 17.72 20<\/p>\n
1995 4,324,229 5,228.34 7.93 9.25<\/p>\n
1996 5,034,472 6,307.69 16.42 20.64<\/p>\n
1997* 5,169,000 6,717.29 2.67 6.49<\/p>\n
* Estimated figures<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/1997-tourism-growth-rates-rocked-by-the-haze-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }