Tourist arrivals fell in 2003 by 9.8%

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite a sharp rise in December, tourist arrivals in the country throughout 2003 dropped by 9.8 percent from 2002 as the industry was still suffering from numerous setbacks, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said on Tuesday.

In December, the agency recorded a rise of close to 20 percent in tourist arrivals to 365,440 from 305,519 in November, bringing the full-year figure to a paltry 3.69 million.

The 2003 figure, however, was lower than the 4.09 million foreign holidaymakers coming to the country in 2002.

"The decline is a continued impact of various shocks occurring in late 2002 and early-to-mid 2003; Bali bombings, SARS outbreak and (fear of retaliation here over) the U.S.'s invasion of Iraq," BPS chairwoman Sudarti Surbakti claimed during a press conference.

The terror attack at the upscale Marriott hotel in Jakarta last August was another major setback for recovery, she added.

Before the setbacks, the industry had been one of the country's main sources of foreign exchange revenue, contributing more than US$5 billion annually.

"With the tourist arrivals at 3.69 million, we've estimated the value at some $4 billion, lower than $4.3 billion posted in 2002," Sudarti added.

She refused to comment on whether the outlook for the tourism industry would be gloomier this year in view of lengthy general election process, which starts in April until September.

She also came to a quick conclusion that a pattern could be emerging toward recovery as indicated by December's rise in arrivals.

Nevertheless, some analysts have warned that the current bird flu outbreak, which has killed 12 people in Vietnam and Thailand, could seriously affect the tourist industry here. Most industry players, however have been busily playing down the impact of bird flu, arguing that it is not as deadly as last year's Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic.