Yogyakarta suffers from Bali bombing fallout

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Though located far from each other, even on different islands, Yogyakarta still feels the impact of the recent bombing in Bali. Bali has long been the main gateway for foreign tourists visiting the province as well as the main market for its handicraft products.

Just a few days after the bombing, Japanese tourists expected to arrive in Yogyakarta had canceled all visits, not to mention cancellations made by other foreign tourists like those from France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

According to the chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Yogyakarta branch Stef. B. Indarto no cancellations came from tourists from the U.S. and Australia since they've been absent for some time in the province.

The bombing also caused the cancellation of two international events -- the Asia Pacific Round Table for Cleaner Production scheduled from Oct. 21 through Oct. 24 and the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) meeting from Oct. 27 through Oct. 29 -- scheduled to be held in the city this month.

The cancellations of the two events, which were expected to bring in around 2,000 participants to Yogyakarta, were made almost immediately after the Bali bombings.

In popular tourist sites in Yogyakarta, decreasing numbers of visitors was obvious. For instance, the Yogyakarta Palace, or Kraton, is now visited by around 20 to 25 foreign tourists a day, a sharp decrease from the usual 100 before the bombing.

"It's true the bombs exploded in Bali, but the aftermath is being felt here," said palace guard Bekel Werdoyo Pawoko, adding the bombing also gave the palace's foreign speaking guides more "spare time".

Yogyakarta's hotels have also felt the impact.

Public Relations Officer Y. Risnasari of Yogyakarta Radisson Hotel and Residence said the hotel had lost no less than 549 room nights this week, mostly due to cancellations or early departures due to governments' travel warnings after the bombing.

"The biggest cancellation came from Japan. As many as six groups comprising 40 Japanese tourists each have canceled their visit and reservations here," said Risnasari. She added most of the cancellation were made because the tourists had to cancel their visit to Bali.

"I myself fully understand their reason. Yogyakarta has always been the second destination. We have to admit Bali is the best tourist destination in the country. Therefore, if they have to cancel their visit to Bali, they will also cancel their visit to other destinations here like Yogyakarta. Whether we admit it or not, most of those visiting Indonesia visit Bali," Risnasari said.

Separately, Stef B. Indarto told The Jakarta Post that occupancy rates in the 400 hotels in Yogyakarta province had dropped by some 50 percent since the Bali bombings. Before, the average occupancy rate was 45 percent to 50 percent. "Now it (the occupancy rate) is only 25 percent," Stef said.

PHRI's main concern, Stef said, was that next month will be the fasting month of Ramadhan, a time of the least visitors or tourists. "During such quiet months we usually expect more foreign tourists to come. But, that is obviously out of the question now," said Stef.

He expressed doubts that the target of 150,000 foreign tourists visiting Yogyakarta up to the end of this year would be fulfilled.

"If we had some 100,000 foreign tourists visiting Yogyakarta by the end of this year it would be very good. My estimate is we will only have some 80,000 foreign tourists by the end of this year," Stef said.

The present drop in foreign tourist visits in fact is not the first to ever hit Yogyakarta. In 1998, there were only 70,000 tourists -- from the usual 350,000 to 400,000 tourists, visiting the city due to riots in Jakarta prior to the fall of then president Soeharto.

"Actually, conditions had been improving before the Bali bombings. During the last two years, the number of foreign tourist visits has been increasing steadily," Stef said. Yogyakarta was visited by 120,000 foreign tourists last year.

Yogyakarta's handicraft sector is also feeling the pinch. Many of the handicraft business owners here, who mostly rely on Bali as a prime market of their products, had to consider stopping production activities mostly due to cancellations of orders.

The impact of the bombing in Bali on Yogyakarta was taken seriously by the province's Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

Early this week, the sultan held a special meeting with some of 500 local security officers, government officials -- including subdistrict levels, councillors and people in the tourist industry.

In the meeting, the governor requested the people's participation to combat any terrorist acts in Yogyakarta and urged them to apply the early warning system within the community, even at the lowest level. He warned that such terrorist acts could paralyze the province's economic progress.