Government lowers this year's tourist arrivals target

JAKARTA (JP): The government has revised down its foreign tourist arrivals target for this year about 15 percent to 5.5 million from the initial projection of 6.5 million.

Minister of Tourism, Art and Culture Abdul Latief said yesterday that the target needed adjusting to reflect the real trend of foreign tourist arrivals into the country.

Latief said negative reports on Indonesia by foreign media had severely tarnished the country's image and prompted many tourists to cancel their trips.

As a result, many airlines had also reduced their flights to Indonesia due to the decline in inbound passengers, the minister said.

"The negative coverage on forest fires and the monetary crisis has seriously affected the number of tourist arrivals," Latief said after meeting with President Soeharto at his residence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta.

The President has changed the previous ministry of tourism, post and telecommunications into the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture to enable the minister to concentrate on making the tourism sector the largest foreign exchange earner in the next millennium.

Last year, the number of foreign tourist arrivals was 5.04 million, much lower than the government's target of 5.3 million.

Foreign exchange receipts from the tourism sector were US$6.62 billion, or about $1 billion below the original target.

Analysts believe riots, which took place in several parts of the country before and after the general election last May, had discouraged foreign tourists from visiting Indonesia.

Latief did not set any income targets for this year but was confident the country would be able to earn $15 billion a year by 2003 from tourism.

Latief's predecessor Joop Ave earlier said that natural disasters and fears about plane crashes, as well as the monetary crisis also contributed to the decrease.

In September an Airbus A-300 owned by Garuda Indonesia crashed on a routine flight from Jakarta to Medan shortly before landing, killing all 234 passengers and crew on board. Poor visibility caused by the haze was suspected to be the cause.

Latief said he would promote shopping tourism to Indonesia especially in Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta and Bali.

In the initial phase he would launch massive campaigns to promote the famous Mangga Dua shopping center (clothing) in Jakarta and the Cibaduyut market in Bandung, West Java, (shoes and clothing).

"The President said tourism should be linked to the empowerment of the people's economy," he noted.

The minister pledged to educate tourism officials on the importance of the continuous promotion of Indonesia.

"I will ask the ministry officials and their families to wear Batik on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays," he said without explaining the effectiveness of the batik in luring tourists from abroad. (prb)