Adrian edited this arond 5:30pm
\nFOR GENERAL ISSUE MAY 28
\n;JP;HEN;
\nANPAc..r..
\nTourism-signs-recovry<\/p>\n
Signs of life emerge after long wait<\/p>\n
Hendarsyah Tarmizi
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Early signs of recovery in the world's travel industry have
\nsent a ray of hope to millions of people involved in the
\ncountry's tourism sector.<\/p>\n
This new development has brought a relief to many hotel owners
\nwho have seen most of their rooms empty over the past two years.
\nSouvenir and antique vendors, who have been compelled to change
\ntheir profession due to the lack of tourists, can now resume
\ntheir old jobs.<\/p>\n
"We have been suffering for too long. The signs of positive
\ngrowth in the industry have certainly brought a new lease of
\nlife," said Meity Robot, chairwoman of the Association of
\nIndonesian Travel Agencies (ASITA).<\/p>\n
Although the early recovery in the world's travel industry has
\nyet to bring a positive impact on all tourist destinations, the
\ntrend is quite positive, she said.<\/p>\n
The number of foreign tourists have continued to grow in the
\nfirst quarter of this year, in the wake of signs of recovery in
\nthe world's travel industry, which has almost come to a halt
\nfollowing the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center
\n(WTO) in New York.<\/p>\n
Although the growth is not so impressive, the increase is
\nsufficient enough to bring a renewed hope for the ailing tourism
\nsector, which has been struggling hard to survive during the past
\ntwo years<\/p>\n
The latest data issued by the National Statistics Bureau (BPS)
\nindicates that the number of foreign tourists arriving through
\nthe country's 13 main points of entry, including Jakarta, Bali
\nand Batam, rose by 1.35 percent to 992,020 during the January to
\nMarch period from 978,820 in the same period last year.<\/p>\n
The rise in foreign tourist arrivals through Jakarta and Batam
\nwas above average at 7.36 percent and 3.05 percent, respectively,
\nwhile those through the country's main tourist destination area
\nof Bali dropped 6.55 percent.<\/p>\n
The monthly increase in the number of foreign tourists was,
\nhowever, much more impressive, reaching 15.16 percent in March,
\ncompared to about four percent in February.<\/p>\n
The bureau estimates that with continued improvement in the
\ncountry's security situation, the encouraging trend is likely to
\ncontinue.<\/p>\n
The country's hotel industry, which has been severely hit by
\nthe slump in the world's travel industry, has also indicated
\npositive growth, albeit fluctuating.<\/p>\n
Although the average occupancy rate of star-rated hotels in
\nmajor tourist destination areas dropped to 40 percent in February
\nfrom 44.52 percent in January, the general trend remains
\npositive.<\/p>\n
The drop in January, which is considered one of the year's
\nhigh seasons, does not really reflect the actual trend. Many
\nhotels are upbeat that the trend will further strengthen from the
\nsecond semester onward, in line with recovery in the world's
\ntravel industry, thanks to a more conducive environment in the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
The positive development is also seen in the country's air
\ntravel industry. The number of international air passengers rose
\n2.94 percent to 833,700 during January this year from 809,900
\nduring the same period the previous year, according to BPS's
\ndata.<\/p>\n
The number of domestic air passengers, however, dropped by
\n5.08 percent to 1.5 million during the January to March period
\nfrom 1.6 million in the same period last year.<\/p>\n
The Sept. 11 terrorist attack against the U.S. is only one of
\nmany factors that has caused the slump in the tourism industry.
\nIn fact, the WTC tragedy only added to the many problems that had
\nbeen encountered by the already weak industry.<\/p>\n
Long before the attack, bombings and strikes in Jakarta, in
\naddition to racial conflicts in Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Maluku
\nhad already been enough to scare visitors away.<\/p>\n
The extensive media coverage of the conflicts during the past
\ntwo years made the situation even worse. The bad picture of
\nIndonesia as described by press reports had also given many
\nforeign countries enough reason to exclude Indonesia from the
\nlist of recommended destinations.<\/p>\n
Foreign tourist arrivals peaked at 5.18 million in 1997 and
\ndropped to 4.6 million in 1998 at the height of security concerns
\nin the country. Tourist arrivals recovered, however, totaling
\n5.06 million in 2000.<\/p>\n
During the January to September period in 2001, tourist
\narrivals increased by six percent to 3.27 million compared to the
\nsame period in 2000. The September tragedy, however, halted the
\nincrease. In 2001, the number of tourist arrivals totaled only
\n4.1 million.<\/p>\n
Things have changed a lot since then. Compared to the years
\n2000 and 2001, the country's political and security situation
\nthis year has been much better so far. Although there are still
\nnumerous racial conflicts reported from hotspots such as Maluku,
\nthe condition is now much better.<\/p>\n
ASITA's chairwoman, Meity, said the political situation had
\nbeen improving in recent months.<\/p>\n
But she warned that all sections of the government, political
\nparties and the private sector should work together to maintain
\nthe situation.<\/p>\n
"We have to end the political and racial conflicts. Without
\ndoing that, it will be difficult to turn the country into a safe
\nplace to visit," Meity said.<\/p>\n
Besides such problems, many businessmen in the tourism
\nindustry have expressed concerns over the government's lack of
\neffort in promoting the country's tourism sector overseas.<\/p>\n
Although state funds allocated for the development of tourism
\nshowed a significant increase over the past two years, the
\ngovernment's concrete efforts to promote the country's tourism
\noverseas were ineffective.<\/p>\n
Compared to neighboring Malaysia and Thailand, the
\ngovernment's efforts to attract foreign tourists have been far
\nfrom enough.<\/p>\n
Amid the slowdown in the travel market in the United States,
\nEurope and Japan, the two countries had launched a massive
\ncampaign to attract tourists from the Asian market. This strategy
\nhas been successful. Hotels and other tourist-related businesses,
\nwhich usually rely on tourists from developed nations, are now
\nable to survive the crisis due to the increase in Asian tourists.<\/p>\n
Through its massive campaign, Thailand has been able to
\nattract 10.4 million foreign tourists in 2001, compared to 9.5
\nmillion in 2000, thanks to an increase in the number of Asian
\ntourists.<\/p>\n
Like Thailand, Malaysia has also launched a massive
\npromotional campaign to lure Asian tourists. The Truly Asia
\ncampaign launched by the Malaysian government, for example,
\nmanaged to increase the number of Indonesian tourists by 77
\npercent to more than 545,000 people in 2000 from 307,375 in 1999.<\/p>\n
Pontjo Sutowo, the chairman of the Indonesian Tourism Society
\n(MPI) said improving the country's image would be a priority in
\nimproving tourism.<\/p>\n
"Without changing the country's image, sales promotions, or
\nattending international events will not be effective," he said.<\/p>",
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