Travel Agents complain to House members
Travel Agents complain to House members
JAKARTA (JP): Twenty tour and travel agencies complained to
the House of Representatives yesterday over a sharp increase in
the guarantee funds that they are required to provide by the
International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Some 26 travel executives met with members of the Golkar
faction in the House, including M. Diran, Ben Mesakh, Rotulong
Lengkey and A.R. Rangkuti, who are also members of the House's
Commission V, which is responsible for transportation and tourism
affairs.
The travel agencies represented at the meeting included Sahid
Visantara, Puma Holidays, Indra Kelana, Cakrawala and Esa Tours.
The executives said that, as of July 1, all tour and travel
agencies are required to provide guarantee funds of a minimum of
US$15,000 or 120 percent of their average sales over 15 days.
Before July 1, tour and travel agencies were required to
provide guarantee funds, paid to the state-owned Bank Bumi Daya
(BBD), of only 40 percent of their average sales over 15 days.
The executives said IATA allowed travel agencies to use
savings from the "Plan Save 5" scheme -- under which the agencies
are obliged to save five-percentage points of the nine percent
commissions paid to them by airlines -- for the guarantee.
The Plan Save 5 was introduced by the Association of
Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (Asita) and (BBD) in 1993 to
prevent unfair competition in airline ticketing. The five-
percentage points of the commissions must be deposited with BBD
and earn interest of seven percent per annum. After two years, 50
percent of the interest on the deposit is paid to the Indonesian
Tourism Promotion Board for the promotion of Indonesia's tourist
industry abroad.
Protest
Several agencies protested against the introduction of the
Plan Save 5 scheme, which was introduced in November 1993.
The executives said yesterday that the increase in the
guarantee funds would hamper the operations of smaller agencies.
The House members promised that they would discuss the problem
with related parties.
Meanwhile, a member of Asita's supervisory board, Hadisusanto,
told the Jakarta Post yesterday that travel agents had been
notified of the increase by IATA in early 1994.
Asita had been successful in convincing IATA to postpone the
introduction of the higher rate until July this year, he said.
The chairwoman of Asita's Jakarta chapter, Meity Robot, told
the Post that the association was scheduled to hold a press
conference today to clarify the issue. (icn)