Tourist arrivals fell in 2003 by 9.8%

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.