Holiday gives a boost to Bali's tourism sector

Holiday gives a boost to Bali's tourism sector

Leony Aurora and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Denpasar

With Friday the last work day before the Idul Fitri holiday on
Sunday, many Indonesians are heading to Bali for the following
week-long break.

Deputy chairwoman of the Indonesian Tourism Society Meity
Robot said that hotels and flights to the island, a favorite
destination for domestic tourists, were almost fully booked.

"The tourists will stay between Nov. 14 and Nov. 21," said
Meity on Friday.

Grand Hyatt Bali Hotel public relations officer Renata
Hutasoit said that all 653 rooms in the hotel were fully booked
from Nov. 14 to Nov. 21.

"However, some guests are still having problems with flights
from Jakarta," she said.

A high occupancy rate is also expected at the Bali
International Resort in Jimbaran. Spokeswoman Keke Hidayat said
that the five-star hotel is fully booked from Nov. 13 until Nov.
18. But the occupancy rate on the following day may be about 80
percent.

In recent years the central government has imposed an extended
holiday policy by rearranging public holidays to enable as many
long weekends as possible. The government intends to increase
higher domestic consumption, which has been the main drive of the
country's economic growth for the last several years.

The measure was also deemed necessary to promote tourism,
which took severe blows with the Bali bombing in 2002, the
Marriott blast in the capital in 2003, and Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The most recent bombing incident in Kuningan, Central Jakarta,
on Sept. 9, however, has proved to have little effect on the
tourist industry.

"It affected hotels only in Jakarta for about two weeks," said
Yanti Sukamdani Hardjoprakoso, chairwoman of the Indonesian Hotel
and Restaurant Association (PHRI).

She said that the occupancy rate in Bali reached between 50
percent and 60 percent in the low season and about 70 percent in
high season. "The condition in Bali is improving."

Latest data from the province's tourism agency shows that
almost 1.1 million foreign visitors have come to the island in
the first nine months of this year. The figure is a 52.45 percent
increase from last year's figure of about 717,000 tourists.

Although bouncing back, the situation in Bali is far from its
glorious days before the bomb tragedy, especially after the
implementation of a US$25 visa-on-arrival policy for a 30-day
stay in February.

The visa policy restricts visa-free entry to tourists from 21
countries, down from the previous list of 60 countries.

A survey conducted of 10,000 foreign tourists in Bali in 2004
showed that more than 50 percent would not return to the island
due to the new policy. The majority also said that the procedure
was time consuming.

For Indonesia in general, and Bali in particular, tourism has
become a major foreign exchange earner and economic backbone.

The government has targeted foreign exchange revenue of $5.2
billion this year, mostly expected from foreign tourist arrivals,
up from the $4.5 billion booked in the previous year.

The 2004 target was based on the assumption that 5.1 million
foreign travelers would visit the country throughout the year.
Until September, some 3.41 million foreign visitors have passed
through 13 entry gates in Indonesia, up 28 percent of the same
period last year.

"More foreigners will come in December for their school
holidays," said Meity.