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Sat, 03 Mar 2001

JP/Tourist arrivals fall but outlook remains promising

Tourist arrivals fall but outlook remains promising

JAKARTA (JP): Tourist arrivals through the 13 ports of entry to Indonesia suffered a 2.65 percent decline in January this year to 330,094 visitors, compared to the previous month, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) said on Friday.

The bureau's chief, Soedarti Surbakti, said, however, that compared to the same period last year, the number had in fact increased 12.3 percent from 293,952 visitors in Jan. 2000.

"This will hopefully get tourism in 2001 off to a good start, and this hope will become real if political stability and security are restored," she told journalists at a media conference here.

The 13 ports of entry to Indonesia are the international airports in Jakarta, Bali, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, East Java, Central Java, West Nusa Tenggara, North Sulawesi, and South Sulawesi; sea ports in Batam, Jakarta, and Riau; and the land- border crossing in Entikong, West Kalimantan.

The decline in visitor arrivals was keenly felt at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya which suffered a 39.4 percent decrease, Adi Sumarmo Airport in Solo, Central Java with a 32.6 percent drop, and Tanjung Pinang Airport in Pekanbaru, Riau with a 15 percent drop.

However, the number of visitor arrivals at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta; Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali; Tabing Airport in Padang, West Sumatra; Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi; and at the port of Tanjung Priok all increased.

Compared to the same period in 2000, the number of visitors coming to Bali and Jakarta increased by 14.94 percent and 27.49 percent respectively.

The occupancy rates of star-rated hotels in 10 tourist destinations declined 8.43 points to 40.97 percent in Dec. 2000, compared to the previous month due to December being the fasting month, Soedarti said, adding that the bombings on Christmas Eve had also discouraged people from traveling.

The 10 tourist destinations are North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, Bali, North Sulawesi and South Sulawesi. (bkm/tnt)