Travel agencies losing money

PADANG, West Sumatra: Travel bureaus in West Sumatra are loosing millions of rupiah as a result of cancelled tours due to the haze from the currently extensive brush and forest fires.

"Each of the province's 29 travel bureaus has suffered losses averaging Rp 1 million (US$295) to Rp 8 million ($2,350)," head of West Sumatra's chapter of the Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies, Fauzi Tamin, told Antara here on Sunday.

He said the losses were attributed to cancelled tour packages and airline tickets in the last two months. The figure did not include cancelled trips to the province scheduled for November and December this year.

"Each travel bureau normally carries out three tourist packages a month. But since the smoke and haze, most packages were cancelled," he added.

Tourist activities are very much dependent on weather conditions. (mds)