Over 1.3m tourists cancel visit to Indonesia

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.