PHRI warns tourism drop worse than govt thought

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) says the tourist industry may be dealt a harder blow than the government anticipated.

The association's chairman, Pontjo Sutowo, predicted Wednesday evening that foreign tourist arrivals this year would fall by 11 percent to 4.5 million people, lower than the government's estimate of 5.5 million announced earlier this month.

"I am afraid the situation is worse than we expected earlier."

He said the association also predicted foreign exchange earnings from the tourist sector would fall by 36 percent this year to US$4.2 billion from $6.6 billion last year.

The government, however, has not set an income target for the year.

Pontjo said about six million to seven million people in the tourist workforce might lose their jobs because of the slow down.

The association forecasted that the occupancy rates of star- rated hotels would be 35 percent this year, down from 47.58 percent last year for their 83,000 rooms.

Occupancy rates of nonstar-rated hotels might increase slightly to 45 percent from 43 percent for their 127,000 rooms, he said.

Pontjo attributed the severe situation to the deteriorating image of the country, sparked by negative coverage of its current economic, political and environmental condition.

The government has not tried to defend itself despite worldwide coverage of students' antigovernment protests, food shortage and forest fires, he said.

While other countries in the region which were hit by the monetary crisis, such as Thailand and Malaysia, have strengthen their campaigns to lure visitors, Indonesia has done little to respond to the ongoing problems, he said.

"It seems that no one sees the importance of public relations for Indonesia."

The image of Indonesia is that it is unsafe, insecure and an undesirable destination, he said

The monetary crisis, which slashed the rupiah's value by more than 60 percent, has political implications for the country, while severe forest fires in Kalimantan and several airline accidents last year have deterred potential visitors.

Low load factors have forced many foreign and domestic airlines to cut their flight services to Indonesia, he said.

Now, not only are there were less visitors, but earning the same amount of money will take twice as much effort, he said.

The association proposed to the government yesterday a rescue package for tourism which would improve the country's competitiveness by focusing on safety, accessibility, price, appeals and convenience.

This would need coordination with other parties such as the police department, and the foreign, environment, and health ministries to cover every aspect of tourism, Pontjo said.

The government, the private sector and Indonesians must unite in order to support the rescue package, he said. (das)