Haze affects tourism, aviation industries<\/p>\n
By I. Christianto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Haze from forest fires has become a serious
\nthreat to Indonesia's tourism industry because fewer foreigners
\nare visiting the archipelago due to extensive international
\nreporting on the situation.<\/p>\n
But, believe it or not, local airline companies consider the
\nsituation a blessing in disguise.<\/p>\n
Director General of Tourism Andi Mappi Sammeng told The
\nJakarta Post here over the weekend that international tourist
\narrivals in Indonesia were still increasing, but the growth rate
\nwas not high enough.<\/p>\n
\"The growth rate must reach at least 5 percent to meet this
\nyear's target of 5.3 million foreign visitors. However,
\ninternational tourist arrivals are up only 3.7 percent over the
\nfirst nine months this year compared to 1996.\"<\/p>\n
\"This means we have to work very hard in 1998. There must be a
\ngrowth rate of between 13 percent and 20 percent to reach the
\ntarget of between 6 million and 6.5 million overseas visitors
\nnext year,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the government had anticipated a fall in foreign
\ntourist arrivals in the first semester of this year, but not in
\nthe following months.<\/p>\n
\"We forecast fewer visitors to Indonesia in the first six
\nmonths of 1997 due to political reasons during the general
\nelection in May,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But he said he had not expected the forest fires in Kalimantan
\nand Sumatra would create another drastic drop in tourist
\narrivals.<\/p>\n
The fires have caused serious haze problems not only in
\nSumatra and Kalimantan but also in Malaysia and Singapore.<\/p>\n
Many travelers and tour groups from European and Asian nations
\nhave canceled trips to Indonesia because of the haze problem.<\/p>\n
In the January to September period this year 3.2 million
\ntourists visited Indonesia and spent some US$4.2 billion.<\/p>\n
Last year, the country earned $5.13 billion in foreign
\nexchange from five million tourists.<\/p>\n
Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave said
\nthe decrease had also hit Bali, the country's most popular
\ntourist destination.<\/p>\n
He said foreign tourist arrivals in Bali fell 10 percent in
\nOctober, the biggest drop so far.<\/p>\n
\"The tourism industry should learn a lesson from this.\" Antara
\nnews agency quoted Joop as saying in Denpasar, Bali, over the
\nweekend.<\/p>\n
The unfavorable climate in the tourism industry has forced the
\ngovernment to lower its foreign tourist arrivals target for this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
According to new data provided by the Ministry of Tourism,
\nPost and Telecommunications, about 5.19 million foreign tourists
\nwill visit the country this year.<\/p>\n
The original projection was between 5.3 million and 5.7
\nmillion arrivals.<\/p>\n
Revenue generated from the foreign tourists will total about
\n$6.5 billion this year.<\/p>\n
The initial projection was between $6.64 billion and $7.14
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
Foreign tourist arrivals are also projected to decline next
\nyear, to 5.7 million from an original target of between 6 million
\nand 6.5 million.<\/p>\n
Foreign exchange from tourism next year is expected to total
\nabout $7.14 billion, less than the original target of between
\n$7.51 billion and $8.14 billion.<\/p>\n
Aviation<\/p>\n
The Indonesian National Air Carrier Association (INACA) says
\nthe haze has been a blessing in disguise for the country's
\nscheduled airlines.<\/p>\n
The association's chairman, Soelarto Hadisumarto, told the
\nPost that thousands of flights had been canceled because of the
\nhaze.<\/p>\n
\"But this is just a kind of blessing in disguise for the
\nairlines,\" he said.<\/p>\n
INACA groups cargo, state-owned, private and commercial air
\ncarriers including six domestic scheduled airlines, Garuda
\nIndonesia, Merpati Nusantara Airlines, Bouraq Indonesia, Mandala
\nAirlines, Sempati Air and Dirgantara Air Service.<\/p>\n
At least 3,372 flights were canceled in Sumatra and Kalimantan
\nduring August and September.<\/p>\n
Nine hundred and fifty-nine flights were canceled in Pontianak
\nin West Kalimantan, 568 in Samarinda in East Kalimantan and 358
\nin Padang, West Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Cancellations meant operating costs were less because there
\nwere not usually enough passengers flying to those destinations,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
\"The costs of our operations are still so high that sometimes
\nwe suffer losses.<\/p>\n
\"We also suffer losses when we cancel flights, but the amount
\nis quite small compared to the operational costs,\" Soelarto said.<\/p>\n
He said the low government-set airfares caused operational
\nlosses.<\/p>\n
Airfares were set at an average of eight U.S. cents per seat
\nper kilometer, much lower than the 13 U.S. cents per seat per
\nkilometer charged by overseas airlines.<\/p>\n
\"Ideally, it should be at least 16 U.S. cents per seat per
\nkilometer to enable the airline industry to progress,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Domestic economy airfares were raised 10 percent on Oct. 27 to
\noffset the rupiah's sharp depreciation against the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n
But Soelarto said the increase was still not enough to offset
\nthe high operational costs.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/haze-affects-tourism-aviation-industries-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}