RI tourism feels the pinch of weak yen
RI tourism feels the pinch of weak yen
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The number of Japanese tourist arrivals in Indonesia,
particularly Bali, is expected to continue to drop over the next
three months due to the current weakening of the yen, according
to the Association of Indonesian Travel Agents (ASITA).
The falling yen will give the Japanese, already jittery after
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, another excuse to stay home.
"There has been no recovery yet in the number of tourists
coming from Japan to Bali since the Sept. 11 attacks," head of
ASITA's Bali chapter IGB Yudhara told The Jakarta Post Friday.
Bali is the number one indicator of the health of this
country's tourism industry.
Yudhara said that about 20 percent of all foreign tourists to
Bali came from Japan.
The yen has fallen more than 10 percent in the past two
months, with the decline accelerating in recent days.
The Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) said earlier
that the number of Japanese traveling overseas fell by 41.9
percent in November amid fears that emerged in the wake of the
terrorist attacks.
JNTO said that the decline was likely to continue in the
coming months due to the weakening yen.
"In general, a weak yen is negative for the industry because
it makes prices abroad more expensive and Japanese tourists may
not be attracted to shopping abroad," a spokeswoman for Japan's
second biggest travel agency, Kinki Nippon Tourist, said as
quoted by Reuters.
The Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) said in its
January report that tourist arrivals in Bali between January and
November had decreased by 2.26 percent to 1.33 million compared
with the previous year.
The monthly BPS report also showed that tourist arrivals
through the 13 main points of entry fell by 2.36 percent to
304,000 in November compared to the previous month's figure of
311,000 arrivals.
From January to November, the number of tourists was recorded
at 3.88 million.
Yudhara, however, expressed confidence that tourist arrivals
would start to recover in April.
"Japanese tourists will continue to prioritize Asian
countries, especially Bali, as their main travel destination
countries in the future," he said.
The reason was that many would-be Japanese tourists were still
nervous about visiting the United States and European countries
after the Sept.11 attacks, he said.
The government earlier said that it would focus its marketing
and promotion on Asia and Australia this year due to the decrease
in the number of visitors from the United States and Europe.
The government projected the number of foreign visitors in
2002 would reach between 5.4 and 5.8 million, compared to the 5.1
million visitor target set last year.