Govt cuts 2002 tourist arrivals target

Govt cuts 2002 tourist arrivals target

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has revised downward the 2002 foreign visitors
target to 5.3 million from an earlier projection of 5.8 million
due to the global economic slowdown, according to a senior
official.

"This (new) number is quite reasonable for next year; we're
optimistic we can reach it," secretary-general of the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism Setyanto P. Santosa said at a seminar on the
impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. on the local
economy.

The Sept. 11 attacks have only deepened the global economic
slowdown.

Setyanto said that the target of 5.3 million foreign tourists
could still be achieved, as many people from Asian countries
would change their travel destinations to "safer" countries in
the region, including Indonesia.

He said that increasing numbers of people from Singapore,
Malaysia, Japan, China and Australia had changed their travel
destinations.

He said that the government would boost promotional activities
in those countries, and reduce promotion in Europe and the U.S.

"We plan to boost promotion within the Asian region," Setyanto
said.

"It now depends on the security situation. I hope that people
don't take action, which would only damage the country's image,"
he said.

He pointed out, as an example, that the threats made recently
by certain local hard-line groups to expel Americans and Britons
from the country as a protest against the U.S.-led attacks on
Afghanistan had scared away foreign visitors and was detrimental
to the tourism industry.

Reports earlier said that some 1.3 million foreign tourists
had canceled their visits to the country due to security concerns
following the incident.

The government previously revised the 2001 foreign tourist
arrivals target from 5.4 million to 5.1 million.

As of September, the tourist arrivals had reached 3.5 million.

Last year, tourist arrivals in the country totaled about 5.1
million, coming mainly from ASEAN countries (2.05 million
visitors) and other Asian countries (1.9 million).