Travelers defy economic crisis

Travelers defy economic crisis

JAKARTA (JP): The country's currency, the rupiah, is still
fighting hard against the U.S. dollar. But watching packed
international waiting rooms at Soekarno-Hatta International
Airport, or seeing advertisements offering overseas tours in the
media, you might be inclined to think that the situation is
getting better.

At least the economic situation is fine for Astrid, not her
real name, who has just returned from Amsterdam to attend the
wedding of her daughter to a Dutch man.

"I only stayed in Amsterdam for about a week, but I managed to
travel to London and Paris before the wedding," said the woman
aboard a KLM flight to Jakarta via Singapore.

It was her second trip to Europe and this time she spent three
weeks in the three countries. "It's a waste of money if you only
go to one country while you have the opportunity to go to others
with the same visa," she said.

Asked what she did in the countries she visited, she smiled,
saying "Shopping." But she refused to disclose the amount of
money she spent on the entire trip.

The mother of three defended herself, saying she did not spend
as much money as other tourists. "Most of my expenses were for
buying air tickets, but I didn't pay anything for hotels in
London as I stayed with my relatives," said Astrid, who was
traveling with her younger daughter.

Another traveler, Inti Nusantari Subagyo goes abroad twice a
year to spend her holidays with her family.

"Everyone should find the time to have a vacation and forget
about their daily routine," said the woman, who most of the time
visits her two children in Oregon, in the United States, but also
manages to travel around Europe and other countries.

She loves Paris most. "The city has a rich culture with its
old buildings and fashionable people. It's very beautiful," Inti
said.

She has visited the Netherlands several times while
accompanying her husband on official trips. "I don't like it,
it's windy... but I wanted to see it, maybe because of the
emotional attachment. I heard about it many times before from my
parents," Inti said.

"But it feels like home there with some many Indonesians and
friendly people who maybe also have an emotional attachment with
us. And there are also lots of Indonesian restaurants," she
added.

Even though many Indonesians travel overseas for various
reasons, business or pleasure, their numbers are getting fewer
due to the impact of the economic crisis.

Iwata Nusantara tours and travel's director, Meity Robot, is
confident that despite the slow improvement in the country's
economy, there is still a market for travel agencies promoting
tours abroad.

She contributed Indonesians' enthusiasm to spend holidays
abroad to strong promotions by other countries.

"See for yourself, there are plenty of tourism promotions to
lure Indonesians, say, to celebrate the coming millennium," Meity
said.

She said local travel agencies wished they were able to do the
same thing, luring foreign tourists to celebrate the new century
here, but realized that it would be difficult since it would be
the same time as the fasting month of Ramadhan, when usually no
parties are held.

Marketing officer of K.I.A. Tours & Travel, Eddy Kurniawan,
revealed that up to end of the year the agency has received
requests from plenty of customers who are interested in spending
their vacations in destinations such as Europe, Australia and
Singapore.

"The most popular destinations in Europe are the Netherlands
and London," Eddy told The Jakarta Post by phone.

He said that most Indonesians taking European tours ask to
visit the Netherlands toward the end of their trips.

In the Netherlands, they would then extend their stay and go
back home on their own. Some of them even have relatives which
they usually stay with," Eddy said.

Amsterdam, the capital of Holland, attracts some 1.9 million
tourists, who stay a total of some four million nights.

And according to the Netherlands Board of Tourism (NBT),
15,702 Indonesians tourists visited the Netherlands last year.

Ika Paulinawati Indra, the Indonesian representative of NBT,
which opened in May last year, noticed many Indonesians were
interested in visiting the Netherlands either because of
historical reasons or to learn about its rich culture.

"At the moment, we don't have the latest figures of Indonesian
tourists in the Netherlands, but I think the situation has
improved since the beginning of this year and I hope it will get
better and better." (ste)