Holidayers prefer domestic packages<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The depreciation of the rupiah against the U.S.
\ndollar has badly affected business for tour and travel agencies
\nin the city as people prefer to take domestic rather than
\noverseas tour packages.<\/p>\n
Deddy Souhoka of Zamrud Holiday which operates Iwata
\nNusantara, Blue Swan and Sejati tour and travel agencies said on
\nSaturday that he used to see 60 percent of his customers taking
\noverseas tour packages.<\/p>\n
The number, however, has dropped by 20 percent as more people
\ntook the domestic tour packages since the rate of the rupiah to
\nthe dollar climbed to over Rp 10,000.<\/p>\n
\"How really bad the effect is of the hike in the dollar
\nexchange rate on overseas tour packages, we will see in July,\" he
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Zamrud Holiday was one of 80 tour and travel agencies and
\nairlines taking part in the Holiday Expo, held at the Jakarta
\nInternational Convention Center (JICC) from May 4 to May 6.<\/p>\n
A number of expo participants, including Istana Tour, Shilla
\nTour, Jatra Tour, Avia Tour and Puri Tour also complained about
\nthe sharp drop in customers who joined overseas trips. They said,
\nsales dropped by an average of 20 percent since the depreciation
\nof the rupiah from Rp 9,000 to Rp 11,000 against the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n
Branch manager of Golden Sahara Tour, Shella Setiani, said
\nthey now relied on business travel, which was not affected much
\nby the increase in the dollar exchange rate.<\/p>\n
\"Unlike tour packages, business travel cannot be postponed
\nuntil a lower dollar exchange rate,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Like businesspeople, there are others who still have great
\ninterest in traveling overseas, not to do business, but to study.<\/p>\n
The depreciation of the rupiah against the dollar has not
\nseemed to discourage their interest in studying abroad due to
\ntheir strong belief in the quality of overseas education.<\/p>\n
\"I believe that if my daughter studies overseas, she will
\ndevelop a broad vision and gain international experience,
\ncompared to what she could obtain at a local university,\"
\nhousewife Rosiana said.<\/p>\n
She was seeking information on overseas university education
\nat the Education, Training and Technology Expo 2001, also held at
\nJICC, from May 3 to May 6.<\/p>\n
Bambang, a father who was also accompanying his daughter at
\nthe Germany pavilion, said that he was disappointed with the
\nnational education system and said there was no hope of his
\ndaughter getting a good education at a local university.<\/p>\n
\"When I was at university, Malaysia sent its students to study
\nin Indonesia. But now, it is the reverse. What does that mean to
\nyou, what do you get from local schools?\" he questioned.<\/p>\n
Germany, which presented 15 of its 350 higher education
\ninstitutions in the exhibition, is home to most of Indonesian
\nstudents abroad, chairman of German Alumni Association M. Riza
\nTadjoedin boasted.<\/p>\n
Between 1,000 and 2,000 Indonesians come to Germany to study
\nannually, according to Riza.<\/p>\n
Head of German Embassy's Cultural Department Peter Finger told
\nthe Post that the number of Indonesian students who studied in
\nGermany increased by 10 percent annually despite the economic
\ncrisis.<\/p>\n
He added that since the early 1950s there had been 18,000
\nIndonesian graduates of German universities who now worked in
\nvarious fields.<\/p>\n
He said the number of self-supporting students from Indonesia,
\nwho profit from the absence of school fees at most German
\neducational institutions, had also steadily increased in the past
\ntwo years.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Director of German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
\nRenate Schonhagen said only 10 out of the 350 educational
\ninstitutions in Germany collected school fees from students as
\nthey were run privately.<\/p>\n
\"If Indonesian students plan to study in Germany, they just
\nneed to prepare their own monthly living allowance which ranges
\nfrom US$500 to $600 for a modest lifestyle,\" she told the Post.<\/p>\n
The 15 universities grouped in the German pavilion used
\nEnglish as the medium of study.(01)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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