Student protests costly to tourist industry: Feisol

Student protests costly to tourist industry: Feisol

JAKARTA (JP): Persistent anti-government student
demonstrations sweeping across the country are having a costly
effect on the tourism sector, the industry executives have said.

Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant
Association (PHRI), Feisol Hashim, said on Saturday that Jakarta
and nearby towns had had to suffer the repercussions of the
latest political dynamics in the country.

"We don't object to demonstrations. We know this is the order
of the day, but the only thing we ask for is that demonstrating
should be done properly," Feisol told The Jakarta Post in an
interview on Saturday.

Since the bloody incident around the Semanggi cloverleaf,
South Jakarta, on Nov. 13, during which the military's brutal
force crushed student protesters, there had been many
cancellations of visits to Jakarta, he said.

Occupancy rates of hotels in Jakarta fell to 30 percent from
about 40 percent before the incident, while in Bandung, West
Jakarta, the occupancy rates were down to about 35 percent from
45 percent.

PHRI Chairman Pontjo Sutowo said on Friday that hotels had had
to halve their normal rates to an average of between $40 and $50
from about $100 before the incident, which was followed by
several hours of unrest in some spots in the city the next day.

"We believe that the student movements are pure and that they
are intellectual enough not to become destructive, but we are
worried that they are being infiltrated by other elements or that
they may be stirred up by other parties," Feisol said.

Feisol said the industry was also concerned about the recent
phenomenon of students taking over airports in several areas of
the country.

Since the Semanggi killing, students in Medan (North Sumatra),
Ujung Pandang (South Sulawesi) and Padang (West Sumatra) had
briefly taken over their local airports in protest at the
killings.

Feisol said the move could induce the International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO) to revoke or downgrade the status of
the local international airports because of the lack of proper
security in the sensitive areas of the buildings and runways, he
said.

If statuses were downgraded, most international airlines would
not be likely to enter the country, and this could further hurt
the recovery efforts of the tourism sector, which relied much on
accessibility, he said.

Pontjo said the students' acts are in violation of the ICAO's
policy on runway security.

"In every airport, only those with passes can enter the runway
area. It is not permissible to have all these hundreds of
students roaming the area," he added.

Kompas reported that the incidents had forced at least 35
domestic airlines to cancel or alter their flights.

Feisol said there had not been any travel ban issued by
foreign governments on Indonesia, unlike in the aftermath of the
massive riots in May.

However, many had informally advised their nationals to cancel
visits to the country. (das)