Hazy days for struggling Yogyakarta tourist industry

Hazy days for struggling Yogyakarta tourist industry

By Sri Wahyuni

YOGYAKARTA (JP): "Java is haze-free".

This is the message the Yogyakarta chapter of the Association
of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies has been sending worldwide
to counter the adverse effects of the haze that is threatening to
blanket the local tourist industry in smoke.

Thousands of foreign tourists have canceled their visit to
this ancient city citing concern of choking haze, resulting in an
estimated huge financial loss.

The local ASITA chapter launched earlier this week a campaign
to convince prospective tourists that Yogyakarta is haze-free.

"(The campaign may be) late but it's better than doing
nothing," said the chairman of the local ASITA chapter Noegroho
Soeprapto.

Thousands of facsimile sheets bearing "to whom it may concern"
have been sent to tour and travel agencies worldwide, especially
those in the target market countries, according to Noegroho.

The message states that: 1. there is no critical haze problem
in Java; 2. air and land travel is safe; 3. small-scale forest
fires have been successfully extinguished and 4. no one in Java
has had to wear protective masks because of the haze.

Noegroho said that although Sumatra and Kalimantan are the
worst affected areas, tourists wishing to visit Yogyakarta have
also canceled their trip fearing the affects of the haze. "Haze
wasn't even a threat here," Noegroho told The Jakarta Post.

In October alone, the number of tourists here dropped by 75
percent, he said.

This month, 2,000 German and French tourists canceled their
trip through Sri Rama, a tour and travel agency owned by
Noegroho.

The Yogyakarta ASITA chapter has 80 tour and travel agency
members, serving between 65 percent and 70 percent of 320,000
foreign tourists to Yogyakarta each year.

Noegroho said the drop in the number of tourists has shown
that the industry is vulnerable. Even a small dent in Indonesia's
image abroad immediately creates problems, he said.

"It's now up to us to campaign (to improve the image) abroad,"
he said, adding that his association has been waging the campaign
together with the Yogyakarta branch of the Association of
Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants (PHRI) and Casa Grande, the
association of hotel general managers.

"They're suffering from the same problem," said Noegroho who
is also chairman of the Yogyakarta Tourism Industry Promotion
Board (BPIPY).

General manager of Yogyakarta's four-star Santika Hotel, Toto
Sudharto, said by the end of the third week of October, 500
expected guests had canceled their reservations due to the haze.

He estimated the cancellations would continue until next
month. Most of the tourists were from France and Germany.

"We understand that the governments of France and Germany have
warned their people against visiting Southeast Asian countries
until the haze is cleared," Noegroho said.

Silver

Many other star-rated hotels in the region are also reportedly
facing the same problem. Five-star Aquila Prambanan Hotel, for
example, has reportedly had 400 cancellations.

"Most of the hotels here -- including Melia Purosani, Aquila
Prambanan and Radison hotels -- said between 30 percent and 50
percent of expected guests canceled their reservations," Toto
said.

The craftsmen and vendors of silver handicraft in Kota Gede,
Yogyakarta, were also suffering.

Sunarti Sumarno, the owner of Narti's Silver, told the Post
that September and October should have been the peak tourist
season. But the high number of cancellations has led to a
significant decline in the number of tourists visiting and buying
her merchandise.

The shop's regular customers -- mostly from European countries
including Belgium and the Netherlands -- usually placed big
orders of various kinds for silver works for Christmas sales in
their own countries, and bought them between September and
October.

"None of my regular costumers have been able to tell me for
certain as to when they are coming to pick up their orders," said
Sunarti.

One buyer, for instance, had ordered 2,000 silver rings of
five grams, each costing nearly Rp 7 million.

The situation has been worsened by the decline in the value of
the rupiah against the U.S. dollar which increased the price of
silver by 50 percent.

Before the currency crisis, the price was Rp 400,000/kg. Now,
it costs Sunarti Rp 600,000/kg or more.

This has forced Narti's Silver to reduce production by 50
percent. This means that half of its 170 craftsmen are now
unemployed.

"We're facing a tough situation," Sunarti said. "Our stock of
silver works are piling up in the warehouse because we have lost
the best selling moments. And we still have to pay for the bank
interest," said Sunarti.

Sunarti said she would have to wait for another peak tourist
season before she can sell her merchandise.

Another sector badly affected by the high cancellation rate is
the local entertainment industry. Azwar AN, the manager of
Purawisata resort that features the Ramayana ballet, claimed the
number of foreign tourists visiting the ballet had dropped by 25
percent over the past several months.

According to Azwar, about 15 percent of foreign tourists who
spend a night or longer in Yogyakarta visit Purawisata to enjoy
the Ramayana ballet.