Japan eases travel warning for RI
JAKARTA (JP): Japan has downgraded a three-month travel warning for Indonesia, saying the security situation had improved and that it was safer to visit the country.
In a statement received by The Jakarta Post on Monday, the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo said the Japanese Foreign Ministry was now only advising its citizens to be cautious while traveling in Indonesia.
Following the May riots, Japan had advised its citizens to refrain from traveling to the country and recommended Japanese already in Indonesia to leave.
Indonesia's tourist industry has suffered greatly from a drop in international visitors this year, particularly Japanese who frequent Bali.
Several countries announced travel warnings for Indonesia due to the country's social turmoil in May but only Japan had continued to advise its citizens not to travel here through the early part of this month.
Tourist arrivals in the country hit a low in May with only 225,758 visitors compared to 323,167 in May 1997, according to the Indonesian Tourist Promotion Board.
Bali, the country's No. 1 tourist destination, saw a 15.7 percent drop in the number of tourist arrivals with only 489,877 visitors in the first half of this year.
Last year, Bali hosted a total of 2.15 million foreign tourists. While downgrading its travel warning for Indonesia on Monday, Japan also announced that Bali was safe for tourists.
Last year, Japanese tourists accounted for 240,245 of Bali's foreign visitors. Japanese tourist arrivals, however, started decreasing before the May riots this year.
Luther Barrung, director of the Bali office of the Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture, said last month that international media coverage on political and economic affairs in Indonesia had significantly affected the number of tourist arrivals since the beginning of the year.
The Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo said it hoped Japanese tourists would again make Indonesia a favorite travel destination since the country badly needed an influx of foreign exchange. (01)