RI predicts paltry growth in foreign tourist arrivals

JAKARTA (JP): Foreign tourist arrivals are expected to increase 0.6 percent this year to 5.06 million visitors, the lowest growth in a decade due to the haze problem and the monetary crisis.

Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave said yesterday the growth in foreign tourist arrivals would be far below the target.

"The country's tourism is suffering. This is not a laughing matter. This is very serious," he said at a yearend briefing.

Foreign tourist spending in 1997 was estimated to grow 5.04 percent to US$6.62 billion from $6.3 billion last year.

Just in November, the government cut the growth projection of 1997's foreign tourist arrivals to 2.67 percent. The growth in the foreign tourist spending was also lowered to 6.49 percent.

Indonesia originally expected to see between 5.3 million and 5.7 million foreign tourist arrivals this year, or between 5 percent and 13 percent over last year's level.

Revenue generated from foreign tourists was initially estimated to total between $6.64 billion and $7.14 billion in 1997, between 5 percent and 13 percent over last year.

Last year, 5.03 million foreign tourists visited Indonesia, spending $6.3 billion. Last year's growth rate was 16.42 percent and 20.64 percent in arrivals and expenditures, respectively, over 1995's figures.

"We have never experienced anything like this," Joop said.

The currency turmoil, which has hit several Asian countries, is believed to be the most influential factor behind the fall in foreign tourist arrivals.

Many overseas tourists have also been turned off by the smog. Thick haze which blanketed most parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan for several months resulted in significantly reduced tourist arrivals this year.

Indonesia saw a significant drop in foreign tourist arrivals in 1995 when unfounded reports about cholera in Bali spread to Japan and other countries. Foreign tourist arrivals grew only 7.9 percent that year while spending grew 9.3 percent.

The country expects tourism to become the country's biggest foreign exchange earner by the end of the Seventh Five-Year Development Plan in 2004.

In the past 10 years, growth in tourist arrivals has averaged more than 20 percent per year, while growth in revenue generated by foreign tourists has averaged more than 27 percent annually.

Joop said tourist arrivals through the country's seven major entry points plunged 11.42 percent in November from a year ago to 315,357. However, the number of foreign visitors in the first 11 months of this year was still up 1.22 percent at 3,840,184 people from a year ago. (icn/das)

Officials -- Page 10