Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Fri, 10 Apr 1992 10:42:06 PDT
From:         "Indonesia Publications/Task Force" <apakabar@IGC.ORG>
Subject:      Indonesian Tourism
X-To:         seasia-l@msu.edu

Forwarded from PeaceNet reg.indonesia conference:
Topic 541Growth in Asian Tourism
nlutzreg.indonesia12:04 am  Apr  7, 1992

Source: Far Eastern Economic Review    Date: April 2, 1992
Story Type: Analysis                   Original Language: English
Dateline: (Jakarta)                    Byline: Suhaini Aznam
Text: Full

                   GROWTH FROM ASIAN MARKETS

The country's tourism industry is expected to expand this year
following a successful Visit Indonesia Year in 1991. With more
than 2.5 million visitors -- an increase of 18% on the previous
year -- tourism earned the country U.S. $2.47 billion in foreign
exchange. To build on this growth, Indonesia wants to diversify
its tourist draw away from its established European market to the
Asian market -- which has overtaken European arrivals in the past
two years.

"The U.S. and Australian markets are in recession [and] Europe is
struggling with unification and domestic problems," said Udin
Saifuddin, the director of marketing at the Directorate-General
of Tourism. So in 1992 Indonesia is looking to Taiwan, Hong Kong,
South Korea, Japan and its own Asean neighbors, in particular
Singapore and Malaysia. To this end, it is opening a new office
in Taiwan which will also handle the Hong Kong traffic, leaving
the Japan office to oversee the South Korean market. Indonesia
wants to attract between 2.2-2.93 million tourists, with expected
foreign-exchange earnings of U.S. $1.98-2.8 billion.

Singaporeans, who top the list of visitors, are misrepresented
when calculating tourist volume, according to Daisy Hadmoko,
editor of Travel Indonesia. Although Singaporean arrivals are
twice that of the Japanese, 70% head for Batam island, just a
35-minute ferry-ride away. Most are daytrippers who come for the
seafood and shopping and do not stay in hotels and should be
differentiated from regular tourists, she said.

Of the more immediate challenges facing the tourism industry,
the hotel glut in Bali looms large. With a jump of 9,000 new
rooms in four-star hotels in Bali last year, hoteliers are now
forced to lower rates drastically to maintain reasonable levels
of occupancy. Nine upmarket hotels compete in Nusa Dua alone.
And while they can still attract the well-heeled, the smaller
hotels in Bali are suffering. A lot of tourists are willing to
fly economy class, but insist on quality accomodation, which tour
agents are usually able to wrangle in a package deal, industry
analysts noted.

If there is a shortage anywhere, it is, ironically, in Jakarta
itself. Even during the Gulf War last year, Jakarta's hotel
occupancy dropped only marginally, while the Bali traffic fell to
desperate levels. This shortage, however, is being hastily
rectified. Three hotels were opened last year and 18 more four-
and five-star hotels will be built between now and 1997.

The other major challenge this year is the tacit competition
among the Asean countries in this, Visit Asean Year. Although
member countries are in theory promoting Asean as a package deal,
most are selling the same attractions -- beaches, mountains,
cultural diversity, performing arts and handicrafts. In the
parcelling out of events, Indonesia will host the Asean Festival
of Arts in Jogjakarta in August. But for the non-Asean national,
the differences between a shadow-puppet show in Thailand,
Malaysia and Indonesia tend to blur after a while.

Within Asean itself, the finer points of artistic differentiation
are appreciated. But its neighbors are miffed about Indonesia's
Rps. 250,000 (U.S. $125) exit tax imposed on all outgoing
residents. This discourages Indonesians from travelling, making
it a one-way traffic between neighbors. On top of that, the
Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications is toying with
the idea of pressing an additional Rps. 25,000 levy which would
go to the financially ailing Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board.

Indonesia's sales pitch as a "destination of endless diversity,"
continues from Visit Indonesia Year. While its two most popular
destinations remain Jakarta (27.7%) and Bali (25.7%), a
substantial 13.3% find their way to North Sumatra. Other spots
that have made their mark on the tourist map include Jogjakarta
(6.4%), West Java (6%), Riau (5.5%), with the remaining 15.4%
going to more remote corners of the archipelago.

To offset the logistical problem imposed by its 13,667 islands,
Indonesia has opened eight regional airports to direct
international flights, with another in Central Java due this
year. The authorities hope that easier accessibility will
encourage tourists to make more of their vacation time, as well
as enable them to tour more cities. The average length of stay
per visitor -- 12 days, with an average expenditure of U.S. $900
per head -- is one of the highest in the region.

The second phase of Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta airport has just
opened; the runway in Batam is being extended to accommodate
Boeing 747s; and the airports in Bali, Manado, Surabaya, Biak and
Lombok are all being upgraded. There are ferries linking Riau and
Sumatra to Java, and Java to Bali and Lombok, but the land links
between are for those with time and the stamina for tour buses or
four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Package tours account for 38% of Indonesia's tourist traffic,
compared to 55% independent visitors, mostly businessmen.
Undeterred by the relatively high costs of internal transport,
the latter are drawn to Sulawesi, Irian Jaya, the Nusa Tenggara
Timur cluster and a few remote spots on Sumatra. Many of these
travellers are backpackers or high-spending nature-lovers from
Australia and Europe.

Asians tend to come on package tours and, besides accomodation,
spend most of their money on handicrafts. Australian, European
and American tourists spend more on entertainment and
recreational activities like water sports and jungle trekking,
according to industry analysts. Unlike some of its neighbors,
Indonesia is yet to actively promote tourism for its own
citizens, who, if they can afford it, would rather travel abroad.
The bulk of its 180 million people cannot afford leisure tours
and, for them, travel is to get from one point to another for
their livelihoods.

There are the usual fears that this influx of foreigners will
contaminate local culture. However, in Bali at least, the local
populace seem oblivious of the intrusion and continue with their
daily offerings, farm work and temple festivals, as if the tour
buses were part of the landscape.

In cities steeped in the performing arts like Jogjakarta and
Solo, there are separate programs for tourists and locals. The
former are short, encapsulated shows that the uninitiated can
follow without understanding the roots of the tradition, while
for the locals puppet performances and dance operas may extend
over several nights. According to Hadmoko, both are necessary.
On one hand, tourists get value for their dollar, and on the
other, traditions are maintained. In fact, it could be argued
that some dances might have died without the tourist dollar to
support them, she said.

The tourist dollar also trickles down to the villages. In Bali
tourism has created jobs for young locals as tour guides,
drivers, shop assistants and restaurant staff and villagers
benefit from lucrative sales of handicraft. In Manado, fishing
and sailing boat operators earn decent side-incomes from
ferrying tourists.

With more upmarket tourists moving away from the crowded resorts,
the government has pioneered 11 tourism centers, particularly in
Lombok. The usual system is for the government to acquire land in
a relatively remote area and then build a four-star hotel. The
hope is that once the hotel proves feasible, private investors
would then flock in to repeat the Bali success story on a more
modest scale.
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