Security concerns knocks tourist number off target
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)