Recent travel alert worries tourism firms
JAKARTA (JP): Local tourism-related companies have expressed concern over travel warnings recently issued by foreign governments to their nationals considering visits to Indonesia.
The chairman of the Inbound Tour Operators Club, Arivaldy Kumarga, said on Wednesday that two outbreaks of rioting within the last two weeks had prompted foreign governments to discourage citizens from traveling to Indonesia.
"The current situation is not as bad as the aftermath of the May riots, but the Semanggi and Ketapang incidents have made several major countries issue travel advisories for Jakarta," Arivaldy told reporters after a discussion on tourism.
"Nobody's coming here now," he added.
On Nov. 13, a clash occurred between student protesters and security personnel at the Semanggi cloverleaf junction, as a result of which at least 10 people died.
The next day, riots -- albeit on a lesser scale than those in May which pushed Soeharto into resigning after 32 years in power -- erupted in several commercial districts in the capital.
Last Sunday, religious-related rumors sparked mobs of people who claimed to be defending Islam, to massacre at least 14 people, most of whom were Ambonese Christians.
The crowds also burned or destroyed 22 churches and other properties in Central and West Jakarta.
As a consequence, Japan has imposed a "level-two" warning for its citizens to refrain from traveling to areas in Indonesia outside of Bali. Under the travel notice, travel agents are not allowed to market the destinations.
Tokyo has also imposed a level-one notice for Bali, advising Japanese not to visit the island.
Japanese visitors make up a sizable proportion of the foreign visitors to Indonesia, especially to Bali.
Arivaldi said other countries, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore and the members of the European Union had not imposed similar travel bans.
Advisories
However, these countries had issued travel advisories, which cautioned people "not to travel to Jakarta if they can help it", he said.
"Even Singaporeans are being warned from coming to Jakarta, especially certain areas in the capital. Singapore has never done that before," he said, adding that some of the reactions were exaggerated.
"I can understand if the ban was imposed only on Jakarta because of all the bad press that we've been getting here, but I don't think all areas outside Bali are in such bad shape," he said.
Jodi Susilo, the director of international tourism marketing at the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, predicted on Wednesday that Indonesia's foreign earnings from tourism this year would reach only 50 percent of the targeted US$4.9 billion.
"What has happened this month has had a grave impact on our tourist sector," he said, adding that security and political stability were crucial issues in the tourist industry.
On Tuesday, Andi Mappi Sammeng, the former tourism director general who now serves as an expert staffer in the ministry, estimated a 20 percent fall in the number of tourist arrivals to the country this year to 4.16 million from 5.2 million in 1997 as a consequence of the political and social upheaval.
He also predicted that foreign revenue from tourism would drop about 60 percent this year to US$2.48 million from $6.2 billion the previous year.
On Wednesday, representatives of the tourist industry, including the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association and the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies, held a discussion with students who are participating in the antigovernment protests.
Ubedillah Badrun, the leader of one of the student groups said that the movements were morally motivated to create a civil society and that the students abhorred violence and anarchy.
"We are certain that (violence and anarchy) are not part of our movement," Ubedillah told the forum.
However, he added that such a movement had a social cost and that "there would be no progress in tourism without a democratic system that functions properly". (das/29)