Security concerns knocks tourist number off target

JAKARTA (JP): The government is projecting that foreign tourist arrivals will be hard put to reach 4.6 million visitors, far short of the initial 6.5 million target, mainly due to lingering fears over the country's security situation.

"Foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia only totaled 2.5 million visitors by the end of August this year. With this result, we estimate the number will only reach 4.6 million visitors by the end of December," Director General of Tourism at the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture I Gde Ardhika said on Friday.

The projected number for the year is 8 percent lower than for 1997, Antara quoted him as saying in the North Sumatran capital of Medan.

Last year, the number of foreign tourist arrivals was 5.04 million, also below the targeted 5.3 million.

Foreign exchange receipts from the tourist sector were US$6.62 billion, about $1 billion below the original target for 1997.

Ardhika attributed the projected decline in tourist arrivals to the political and security uncertainty in the country.

He cited the mass riots which occurred in several parts of the country before and after the general election in April, and on- again, off-again street demonstrations.

Negative reports by foreign media have severely tarnished the country's image and prompted many tourists to cancel their trips, he added.

With plunging passenger loads, many airlines have scaled back their services to the country.

"The negative coverage of the country's political situation and the monetary crisis have seriously affected the number of tourist arrivals."

Ardhika also noted the global economic turmoil which began in several Asian countries, including Indonesia, in July last year.

The rupiah's sharp depreciation should actually have made Indonesia's tourist attractions more competitive, he said, but it was undermined by the weakened purchasing power of Asian consumers. Japanese are usually the greatest number of foreign visitors.

"Most tourists arriving in Indonesia in the past several months came from European countries, the United States, Australia and New Zealand."

Data from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture shows that tourist arrivals dropped year-on-year by 21.51 percent in the January to August period, falling to 2.24 million visitors.

Foreign earnings from international visitors fell by 22.4 percent to $2.27 billion over the same period last year.

The government earlier predicted an 8 percent drop in the foreign exchange earnings from tourism to $4.97 billion.

Ardhika believed the country's foreign tourist arrivals would be higher next year due to the stirrings of economic recovery in several Asian countries.

"Foreign tourist arrivals next year are projected to be higher than this year. I predict they could reach at least five million visitors next year." (gis)