Smog casts shadow over SE Asian tourism<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuter): Southeast Asia's suffocating smog is
\ncasting an ominous shadow over the region's US$26 billion tourism
\nindustry, tourism officials say.<\/p>\n
Wild currency fluctuations in the region are also scrambling
\nindustry forecasts, they add.<\/p>\n
Officials in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand --
\ncountries most affected by smog from forest fires on the huge
\nislands of Sumatra and Borneo -- had earlier projected improved
\ntourist arrivals this year, but are now less optimistic.<\/p>\n
"It's essentially a double whammy for the region, and I think
\nit's going to be grim days for a while yet," said Michael Lim,
\nspokesman for the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB).<\/p>\n
"Before we had this environmental disaster, our forecast for
\ngrowth this year was between three and five percent over last
\nyear's 7.29 million visitor arrivals," he said.<\/p>\n
Last year, tourists spent $7.3 billion in the city state.<\/p>\n
"It's a dynamic situation right now, no way for us to be able
\nto get a fix on figures," he said.<\/p>\n
"We know there have been cancellations" and people avoiding
\ntravel to affected areas, he said.<\/p>\n
Singapore was well on the way to meet its target between
\nJanuary and August this year with visitor arrivals of just over
\nfive million, 3.3-percent above the same period last year.<\/p>\n
But in August, arrivals dipped 1.5 percent to 645,092. "I
\nwould not attribute that to the environmental pollution but to
\nthe currency turmoil leading to a decline in ASEAN (the
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations) arrivals," Lim said.<\/p>\n
Recently regional currencies have come under heavy pressure,
\nwith investors concerned economies may have been overheating.<\/p>\n
Since July 2 the Thai baht has shed more than a third of its
\nvalue to the dollar. The Malaysian ringgit has hit record lows.
\nThe Singapore dollar has also been hurt, but remained strong
\nagainst regional currencies.<\/p>\n
Visitors to Singapore from Thailand and Malaysia, hardest hit
\nby the currency crisis, fell by 29 and seven percent respectively
\nin August, the STPB said.<\/p>\n
An Indonesian tourism department official said pessimism has
\ngrown because of the extent of the fires.<\/p>\n
Some 600,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of land has been
\nscorched as a result of fires set mostly by farmers and
\nplantation companies to clear land for agriculture.<\/p>\n
Visitor arrivals in Indonesia in 1996 were 5.1 million, with
\nspending of US$6.31 billion, he said. Before the smog began to
\ntake its toll, visitor arrivals rose 2.3 percent between January
\nand July at the seven main points of entry.<\/p>\n
Thailand was already suffering lower growth in tourism before
\nconfronting the smog and currency problems.<\/p>\n
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) targeted for 7.5
\nmillion visitors in 1997, five percent over last year's 7.2
\nmillion, which brought in some $8.7 billion, a TAT source said.<\/p>\n
"But we are not sure if we could achieve that target because
\nup till now, the figure for the first half of the year showed a
\nrise of only 1.5 percent," the source said.<\/p>\n
"The best we could do now is 7.3-7.4 million. Because of the
\nfire in Indonesia, tourists from the U.S. and Europe have been
\nwarned not to come to Southeast Asia."<\/p>\n
But Thailand and Malaysia are trying to use their weaker
\ncurrencies to beat the impact of the smog by arranging special
\npromotional campaigns, officials said.<\/p>\n
An official with Malaysia's Tourist Promotion Board said the
\ncountry initially aimed to raise the tourist total this year to
\n9.5 million to earn about 11.4 billion ringgit ($3.6 billion).<\/p>\n
Last year, 7.1 million tourists went to Malaysia, which earned
\nthe country 10.3 billion ringgit.<\/p>\n
"A number of travel agencies have reported cancellations due
\nto the haze especially to Sarawak," the official said. "With the
\nhaze problem, we are more bearish about achieving our target."<\/p>\n
Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, has been in a state of
\nemergency since Sept. 19 due to very hazardous pollution levels.<\/p>\n
The Malayan Nature Society said the state of Malacca, near
\nSumatra, suffered a 30-percent fall in tourism revenue in August.
\nHotel occupancy plunged by half.<\/p>",
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