Fears of possible unrest affect tourist business

JAKARTA (JP): Businesses on Jl. Jaksa and Jl. Surabaya, two of Central Jakarta's famous tourist destinations, which were showing signs of recovery after the mid-May riots, are back in the doldrums ahead of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Special Session from Nov. 10 through Nov. 13.

There are no concrete reasons as to why the businesses are continuing to decline, but some people believe it is because of fears over possible riots during the session.

Several businessmen on the 500-meter-long Jl. Jaksa, famous for its inexpensive guest houses for foreign budget visitors, said that fears of possible unrest during the session had discouraged tourists from visiting the capital.

One Jl. Jaksa businessmen, F.H. Titaley, said he was concerned about the impact of the series of demonstrations and the deployment of many soldiers and police officers in strategic locations around the capital.

"Our businesses were recovering after being hit by the May riots as could be seen from the rising number of foreign guests to the area in September. But recent rumors about the possibility of a similar tragedy have caused the number of guests to drop again," he said.

Titaley said the number of backpackers during the peak season, including this month, for example, dropped to only 100 a day from about 500 previously.

A hotel manager who asked not to be named said that the occupancy rate of almost all the hotels in the area was only about 20 percent.

"Out of the 22 rooms in my hotel, for example, only four to five have been occupied every day recently," he said. "I fear the situation will worsen further during the Special Session."

Yosi, an owner of a travel agency, said it was lucky that he was not bankrupt as his income was sometimes much less than his expenses.

"The number of transactions has dropped sharply to only an average of three a day or sometimes none at all, from about eight previously," he said.

On Jl. Surabaya on Saturday handicraft and luggage kiosk owners were just sitting around; some played cards while others repaired broken bags to resell.

"We've nothing to do so it is better to find other activities," said Herman, who sells porcelain and a variety of traditional sculptures.

The 400-meter-long Jl. Surabaya is famous for its flea market that now is home to some 200 kiosks, according to the vendors coordinator, Mumu Hidayat.

They sell everything from old lamps and sculptures to traditional clothes, bags and jugs.

Mumu, 52, said that the number of tourists had dropped since the May riots and that it had not recovered yet.

"Sometimes not a single tourist visits here during the weekend," he said.

Before the riots, he said, the number of tourists exceeded 100 during the weekend.

Last Saturday, only two or three tourists were seen buying goods.

Mumu said that most of the sellers' incomes had dropped by more than 50 percent. "It is difficult now to get Rp 2 million (US$230) to Rp 3 million during the peak days like before."

Another seller, Mayong, said that his business was only being kept alive by foreign traders who continued to buy old nautical equipment to resell in their own countries. (ind)