Local tour operators expect gloomy business in 1999
Local tour operators expect gloomy business in 1999
JAKARTA (JP): Local tour operators expect another gloomy year
ahead as international travelers may consider Indonesia too
dangerous to visit in the first half of 1999, an industry
executive said on Tuesday.
The Chairman of the Inbound Tour Operators Club (ITOC),
Arievaldy Kumarga, said two major political events next year
would cause another slow year for the tour operators, who have
been suffering the consequences of political turmoil this year.
"It's hard to predict what is going to happen, but it probably
will not be any better than 1998, because we still have a
political agenda which will make foreign travelers hesitate to
visit Indonesia," Arievaldy told a forum on tourism here.
Indonesia is gearing up to hold the first general election and
presidential election since the 32-year-long rule of Soeharto
ended when he resigned the presidency in May. The general
election is to be held in June, while the president will likely
be elected by November.
Arievaldy said that what happened in the first six months of
next year would shape the fate of the tourist industry for the
rest of the year.
"Booking for the peak summer season of between June and
November is usually done at the beginning of the year, if
tensions leading to the general election heighten, then our hopes
of another peak season will fade," he said.
In the past the government allowed the only three political
parties to conduct mass street rallies by parading around the
main thoroughfares in vehicles in the run-up to the election.
This often led to fatal conflicts and disturbances.
The government has yet to announce whether it would allow such
massive shows of force for next year's general election, which is
expected to be participated in by dozens of political parties.
Arievaldy said the operators have anticipated this by
developing destinations where political tensions tend to be less
heated than those in Jakarta and several other areas. These
include Bali and Lombok, he said.
The tourism sector was badly hit by a series of political
upheavals this year, including the fatal May riots, the bloody
shooting of student protesters in Jakarta last month and the
recent brutal unrests sparked by religious sentiments in Jakarta
and other cities.
Arievaldy said members of ITOC reported drops in activity of
between 20 and 80 percent this year over 1997.
He said foreign travel agents were considering the exclusion
of Indonesia as a destination from their new brochures.
"Some of our foreign partners have started questioning whether
it was necessary to put Indonesia in their brochures," he said,
adding that this would be a total loss for the country's tourist-
related industries.
It is not only inbound tour operating businesses which are
suffering, but the outbound travel industry is also in distress,
said Meity Robot, head of the Jakarta Chapter of the Association
of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies.
Meity said outbound tour operating activities had dropped by
70 to 80 percent.
"Some travel agents have dismissed staff because they have no
other way of surviving," Meity said.
The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture said earlier it
expected the number of tourist arrivals to fall to 4.6 million
foreign visitors from 5.04 million last year.
The Chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant
Association, Pontjo Sutowo, estimated hotel revenues would drop
by 70 to 75 percent in terms of the U.S. dollar this year from
last year.
The rupiah's over 65 percent depreciation against the U.S.
dollar had forced star-rated hotels, which mostly charge guests
in the U.S. currency, to lower room rates by 30 percent this
year, he said.
The Chairman of the Indonesia Congress and Convention
Association (INCCA), Iqbal Alan Abdullah, said he expected about
a 60 percent fall in convention-related activities and a 40 to 50
percent drop in revenues. (das)