Holiday is a necessity for Jakartans<\/p>\n
There are several things we can't live without. Holiday seems
\nto be one of them. As the long-awaiting holiday season is coming,
\npeople are busy with their travel plans. Holiday also means money
\nfor travel agents, hotels, airlines and others involved in
\ntourist industry. The Jakarta Post writes a special report about
\nholiday. More stories on page 6.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Harry, Cathy and their only daughter are busy
\npacking for a trip to Australia. In fact, the family has been
\npreparing their two-week holiday for months. Money has been their
\nfirst consideration. Traveling abroad means spending quite a lot
\nof money.<\/p>\n
As a manager in a foreign consultancy company, Harry, 35, has
\nbeen able to save part of his income for annual family holidays.<\/p>\n
\"Holidays have become part of our lives, although it means
\nspending a whole year's savings. I've been working hard. Now, I
\nneed to escape from Jakarta's hustle-bustle and take a break for
\na little while,\" Harry said.<\/p>\n
Another couple, Denny and Anna, plan to spend their year-end
\nvacation in Toraja, South Sulawesi, and Manado, North Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
\"We have plans to visit some interesting places in Indonesia's
\n27 provinces every year. We've traveled abroad but have never
\nbeen to Sulawesi or other eastern provinces. What a shame,\" said
\nAnna, who works as a secretary at a state-owned bank.<\/p>\n
These two young couples are representative of the fast-growing
\nIndonesian middle class, which feels the need to set a special
\nbudget for at least a two-week holiday in their annual schedules.<\/p>\n
The steady rise in real incomes has allowed thousands of
\nIndonesians to enjoy the luxury of leisure travel. Indonesians
\nstill get less paid leave than employees in neighboring countries,
\nsuch as Malaysia and Singapore, but enough to increase the demand
\nfor short breaks close to home.<\/p>\n
Living in a hectic city like Jakarta with its stress at work
\nand awful traffic jams can easily make people frantic. Holidays
\nare a good chance to get away from the daily rush.<\/p>\n
Local holiday venues like Bandung, Puncak and Carita in West
\nJava, Yogyakarta and Bali are still favorite destinations for
\ndomestic vacationers. Other provinces like North Sumatra, East
\nand West Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan and Maluku have also started
\nto attract visitors.<\/p>\n
But the demand for overseas holidaying among Indonesians has
\nalso been increasing sharply during the last few years.
\nSingapore, Japan, Australia and New Zealand rank as favorite
\nholiday spots for many Indonesians. The United States, Canada and
\nEurope come in second.<\/p>\n
This holiday-making boom in Indonesia has forced related
\nagencies, such as travel agencies, hotels and airlines, to give
\ntheir best services to holidaymakers. The boom has also resulted
\nin keen competition in the travel business.<\/p>\n
For the coming peak season, a number of major travel agencies
\nhave set their strategies to draw as many clients as possible.<\/p>\n
Grace Utomo, Vaya Tour's chief of overseas travel, said
\nthat in December people mostly go to New Zealand and Australia
\nbecause it is summer there, whereas it is winter in the United
\nStates and Europe.<\/p>\n
In December, Vaya Tour gives no discount for the New Zealand
\nand Australia tours. However, for visits to Asia, Europe and the
\nUnited States, the company gives a bonus by paying the exit tax
\n(fiscal) expenses, Grace explained.<\/p>\n
The New Zealand\/Australia tours consist of three packages from
\nfive to 13 days. The price ranges from US$950 to $2,950 for
\nadults.<\/p>\n
People book months in advance for the December trip and only a
\nfew seats have not yet been sold, she said. \"We only have one or
\ntwo seats left,\" said Grace.<\/p>\n
Giovanni, who works in the marketing section of Puri Holytour,
\nsaid that the agency offers a special package called the Holyland
\nTour which lasts about eight days, during which people visit
\nChristian holy places, including Bethlehem, the River Jordan,
\nJerusalem, Kapernaum, Lourdes in France and the Vatican in Italy.<\/p>\n
Smailing Tour travel agency says that, of the total of 1,750
\ndepartures in December through the company, about 35 percent are
\nto the United States, 35 percent to Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Bobby Moningka, public relations officer of Smailing Tour,
\nsaid there are three high seasons for tours: school holidays,
\nfrom one to one-and-a-half months in June and July; year-end
\nholidays, from 10 days to two weeks; and the Idul Fitri holiday,
\nfrom one week to 10 days.<\/p>\n
The United States is still attractive during winter because of
\nits many attractions, including Disneyland. However, people
\ngenerally shun Europe in December because it is too cold, said
\nBobby.<\/p>\n
Smailing offers two packages: the Classic Tour, which provides
\nfive-star hotel accommodation; and the Trendy Tour Price, which
\nis 30 to 40 percent cheaper than the Classic Tour.<\/p>\n
Airlines<\/p>\n
Airline companies are also enjoying healthy sales in the
\nholiday season, with all seats to favorite destinations already
\nfully booked.<\/p>\n
The national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, for instance,
\nwill provide 110 extra flights, with 26,506 seats, to cater for
\nthe increasing number of passengers during the upcoming
\nChristmas, New Year and Chinese New Year holidays from Dec. 21 to
\nFeb. 24.<\/p>\n
The extra services will increase the number of Garuda's
\nflights by 16 percent over its 651 regular flights.<\/p>\n
To help passengers, Garuda will provide city check-in
\nfacilities in 19 towns.<\/p>\n
Mochtar, a marketing executive of Taiwan's Eva Air, said that
\nthe seats of its flights to Taipei and the United States from
\nDec. 15 to Jan. 9 are fully booked.<\/p>\n
\"Travel agents started making the reservations six months ago,
\nwhile individuals began doing so two or months ago,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Qantas sales representative Rudy Prasetyadi said that seats
\nfor the flights from Jakarta to Sydney, Perth and Singapore are
\nfully-booked for the period Dec. 19 to Jan. 7. There is no sharp
\nincrease in the number of passengers in the flights from Denpasar
\nto Sydney, Darwin and Perth because these are full the whole year
\nround.<\/p>\n
An executive of Sempati Air, meanwhile, said that tickets from
\nJakarta to Batam in Riau, Denpasar in Bali, Singapore and Perth
\nhad been sold out for the period Dec. 23 to Jan. 5.<\/p>\n
\"We are already closed. The waiting list is too long,\" he
\nsaid. \"The seats to other favorite destinations -- Medan, Manado
\nand Lombok -- are also fully-booked, but we can still put you on
\nthe waiting list,\" he added.<\/p>\n
He said Sempati might provide some extra flights to meet the
\nhigh demand.<\/p>\n
Hotel operators also see big markets in family holidays.
\nHotels in Bali have been fully booked by local and foreign
\ntourists for the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays, said
\nTommy Raka, chairman of the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Hotel
\nand Restaurant Association.<\/p>\n
\"Several days ahead of Christmas and New Year, tourism in Bali
\nwill be booming,\" he added.<\/p>\n
All the rooms in 25 big hotels on the island province have
\nbeen fully booked by local and foreign travel bureaus, he said
\nyesterday, adding that small hotels will also benefit from the
\ntourism boom.<\/p>\n
Intan Petersen of Nusa Dua Beach Hotel said that this year is
\nrather unusual in that Bali may suffer a shortage of hotel rooms.<\/p>\n
\"A number of hotels are being renovated or have failed to open
\nthis season, but they have accepted bookings which should be
\ntransferred to other hotels,\" Intan said.<\/p>\n
Kathryn Kainama, public relations manager of Grand Preanger
\nHotel in Bandung, says the holidays will see tourism booming in
\nthe provincial capital. Almost all the city's hotels, the star-
\nrated in particular, are full. The Grand Preanger's occupancy
\nrate is expected to be between 90 percent and 100 percent over
\nthe holiday season.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ray Butler, general manager of Carita Beach Hotel
\nin West Java, said that this year many more people will spend
\ntheir holidays in the Carita area, which is now growing in
\npopularity as a tourist resort.(raw\/jsk\/sim))<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/holiday-is-a-necessity-for-jakartans-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}