Tourist sector in doldrums

PALANGKA RAYA, Central Kalimantan: The Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) was urged by its chairman yesterday to find ways to revive the country's tourist industry, battered by the monetary crisis and recent unrest.

Negative reports regarding the situation in Indonesia have contributed to the worsening state of the tourist industry, Sri Mulyono Herlambang said when opening the meeting of the association's chapter here.

He said many companies involved in tourism are on the brink of bankruptcy.

Only a few companies have been able to maintain their operations, such as those in Bali and Yogyakarta, he was quoted as saying by Antara.

ASITA should thus focus on improving the quality of human resources, particularly in travel and tour operations, he added.

He noted that the government aimed to make the tourist industry a primary foreign exchange earner by the end of the current five-year development plan.

"The ASITA is also expected to help the provincial administration find solutions to such national concerns as the forest fires and the fluctuation of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar," Herlambang said.