Over 1.3m tourists cancel visit to Indonesia

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Over 1.3 million tourists have canceled trips to Indonesia because of heightening anti-American sentiment since the U.S. launched air strikes against Afghanistan, State Minister of Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif revealed on Thursday.

Speaking after attending a coordination meeting of ministers on political and security affairs, Syamsul said Indonesia was already facing the brunt of the economic impact of the Afghan crisis.

"We are in a difficult position as several countries, especially western countries, are warning their citizens who planned to make trips here not to come due to our domestic political situation.

"Data at the Ministry of Tourism and Culture show that more than 1.3 million potential visitors have canceled their visits to Indonesia following the United States' attacks on Afghanistan," Syamsul said.

The cancellation of visits by 1.3 million visitors means that Indonesia will suffer a potential loss of US$1.1 billion in income, based on a 2000 survey that states that one tourist in Bali spends US$77.35 per day with a stay averaging 11 days.

The government as well as some private institutions have predicted that tourist arrivals will decline this year, from the 5.1 million tourists recorded last year and the 4.8 million in 1999.

Syamsul attributed the projected drop of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia not only to travel warnings issued by some western governments but also to the increased cost of traveling by air.

Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, airlines around the world, including national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, have had to increase their airfares simply because they have to pay more insurance premiums for their aircraft.

Syamsul said all the negative consequences of the attacks on New York and the Pentagon and the counterattacks on Afghanistan were discussed by ministers at their meeting at the office of Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The meeting was also attended by Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti.

"The attacks by the United States against Afghanistan have affected the global economy, as well as ours. Should we cut our bilateral ties with the U.S., I'm afraid it would have a more serious impact on our national economy," Syamsul said, referring to calls by some militant groups in the country for the government to sever diplomatic ties with the U.S.

Earlier, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea warned that three thousand workers in Indonesia could lose their jobs if Indonesia severed diplomatic ties with the United States.

A deputy chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Iman Taufik, added that severing ties with the U.S. would surely weaken Indonesia's economy, as the U.S. and its allies control global economic resources.

Even without severing ties with the U.S., daily anti-U.S. demonstrations and threats by some militant groups to search for Americans and Britons and drive them out of the country have already scared away expatriates and tourists alike.

Already, Bali tourism authorities report that hotel occupancy rates on the resort island have dropped from between 70 percent and 80 percent to around 20 percent to 30 percent.

Syamsul, therefore, called on militant groups to abandon their unproportionate responses to the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan as it would only worsen the economic condition.

"We beseech people to respond to the conflict properly and stop cornering us (the government)," Syamsul further said.