Tourist arrivals to drop by 20%

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Tourism Office has predicted that the number of overseas tourists visiting the capital will drop significantly to an estimated 960,000 this year, down from 1.2 million last year, a senior official said here on Wednesday.

"Foreign tourist arrivals into Jakarta will fall by 20 percent compared to last year," City Tourism Office Chief Robert P. Silalahi said.

Robert, however, did not specify the reasons, saying that his office was still collecting data from the immigration bureau.

Robert attributed the slow tourism business to various problems in the country, including security.

Several people involved in the tourism sector have repeatedly complained that the major problem with the country's tourism business was heightened security concerns.

Over 1.3 million tourists reportedly canceled trips to Indonesia due to heightening anti-Westerner sentiment, violent protests and threats which were triggered by many fanatical groups here after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.

"Certainly, (such cancellations) also severely hurt our business," Le Meridien hotel director of sales and marketing, Nenden Rukasah said.

Overseas tourists accounted for 65 percent of hotel visitors, said Nenden, adding that thus far, the hotel only reached 30 percent in occupancy rate.

Nenden said the management has planned to step up promotions for domestic visitors as well as foreign tourists from Asian countries.

Domestic visitors and Asian tourists, it is hoped, will rise enough to compensate for the decreasing number of travelers from the U.S., Australia and Europe she said.

Meanwhile, the management of Kempinski hotel said it was still relying on its international networks to bolster business.

"We will continue to look for foreign visitors through our global networks," Kempinski's public relations director Uraini Umarjadi said.

"But surely, we will also further secure visitors from Asia, given that many international companies have their regional headquarters here," she said, adding that about 95 percent of the foreign visitors came to Jakarta for business.

Robert said his office would support such alternative efforts to assist the country's tourist-related businesses.

"We will, for example, propose a series of tourist promotions to attract a larger number of domestic visitors," he said.