Tourist sector targets backpackers

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's declining popularity as a tourist destination has compelled the country to refashion its service towards catering to foreign backpackers, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Marzuki Usman said yesterday.

Marzuki said that the government would develop small and medium scale tourist enterprises in an attempt to attract low budget foreign tourists following failed attempts to restore the battered upper end of the market.

"If more backpackers were to come here, not only would they spend a longer time in the country, they would also tell people about how cheap it is to travel in Indonesia," Marzuki told The Jakarta Post in an interview.

Low budget tourists would also be less concerned by the country's tainted image, he said.

Without having the time to recover from last year's series of natural disasters, tourism here suffered an even worse blow when severe riots broke out in May. The riots resulted in over 1,000 deaths and cost trillions of rupiah in damage to property.

The riots, which led to the resignation of former president Soeharto, triggered a mass exodus of foreign and Indonesian nationals. Foreign nationals were advised to avoid the country wherever possible, leaving most hotels here empty.

Although foreign tourist arrivals have picked up slightly, they are still well below the normal rate in what is usually the peak season.

Marzuki said developing the lower end of the tourist market would provide many Indonesians with employment at a time of rising poverty.

He said his office would develop programs to cooperate with the private sector, including people from impoverished backgrounds.

For example the development of small scale youth hostels would be encouraged, he said.

The owner of a successful youth hostel in South Jakarta intends to start a training program for those interested in entering the trade, he added.

For a certain fee, participants would be able to benefit from an insight into management schemes and how to win overseas marketing contacts, he said, adding that interested parties could also obtain soft loans to start their own businesses.

However, the minister's ideas won a cool response from the owners of expensive hotels and other large tourist businesses.

They said the plan would not help to resolve their cash flow problems because backpackers would not spend as much money as other classes of tourist.

A backpacker spends an average of US$25 per day but can stay in the country for months, while other tourists spend an average of $1,238 on a three week holiday, according to the ministry.

Marzuki said backpackers would spread word of the beauty of Indonesia and tell their friends that the country was safe and cheap to travel in. On the other hand, he said, hiring public relations companies and placing large advertisements to lure foreign tourists would be very expensive.

"Advertisements and public relations costs a lot of money that we don't have," he said.

The government funded Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board has debts amounting to $21.5 million and is currently unable to finance promotional activities.

Marzuki said the tourism sector could use other means to promote their businesses, for example by targeting younger markets in overseas universities.

"That would be an investment because young backpackers who come here may return again in the future when they have become professionals and then they will bring more money with them," he said.

Marzuki said tourism in the country had begun to recover, with hotel occupancy rates in Jakarta rising to an average of 40 percent in recent weeks.

Arrivals of independent foreign tourists in Bali has returned to normal, but group visitor arrivals are still lower than usual, he said. Marzuki added that women from neighboring countries like Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong were very reluctant to come to the country following reports of the widespread gang rape of women during the May riots. (das)