Govt to reduce 2006 tourism target

Govt to reduce 2006 tourism target

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a year marked by the tsunami that devastated Aceh, a second attack on Bali and outbreaks of polio and bird flu, the government has decided to revise down its target of seven million foreign tourists for next year.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik said on Wednesday the target was unattainable.

"It is likely that next year's tourist arrivals will be affected by the events of this year. It would be realistic to revise down the target from seven million to six million," he said.

This year's target of six million foreign tourists was similarly revised down to five million.

The latest report from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows that foreign arrivals between January and July this year had declined by 4.08 percent to 2.45 million people, compared to the same period of last year.

Last year, 5.3 million foreign tourists traveled to the archipelago, generating some US$5.3 billion in foreign exchange.

Based on the report, the decline was mainly attributable to uncertainty in the country's security condition, which has triggered the issuance of warnings from several rich nations against travel to Indonesia.

Other factors affecting the tourist industry include the bird flu outbreak, which has killed five people in the country.

Jero said to accelerate the recovery of the industry, the ministry would boost spending for international promotion from just $3 million this year to $18 million next year.

"We will use the funds to promote our tourism destinations, primarily in China, India and the Middle East," he said, adding that the government recently provided visas on arrival in August to accommodate tourists from China and India.

With the availability of visas on arrival, the government expects to attract at least 200,000 visitors between August and December this year, particularly to the resort islands of Bali and Lombok.

Indonesia's tourist sector has been in the doldrums since the first Bali bombings in October 2002, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists; followed by the bombings at the JW Marriott Hotel and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, in August 2003 and September 2004, respectively.