W

ith the annual school holidays just begun, holidaymakers have begun flocking to popular tourist destination cities such as Bandung in West Java, and Yogyakarta.

In Bandung, tens of thousands of tourists caused traffic jams in a number of locations including Lembang in North Bandung; around the Bandung Zoo on Jl. Tamansari; around Bandung town square; Pasar Baru and on Jl. Merdeka. In many cases the congestion forced motorists to queue for several hours.

Leonita Vini, 49, a mother of three from Slipi, Jakarta, said she had spent seven hours getting to Lembang tourist resort. “It took us only two hours from Jakarta to reach the Pasteur toll gate, but from there it was pretty much bumper-to-bumper,” Leonita said Wednesday, referring to the start of the main road from Bandung to Jakarta.

PT Jasa Marga Padalarang-Cileunyi toll road spokesman Iwan Mulayawan said that so far this holiday season had seen a 20 percent increase in vehicles were entering Bandung, up from an average of 180,000 vehicles on a normal weekend.

West Java Deputy Governor Yusuf Macan Effendi expressed support for the Bandung municipal administration’s efforts to deal with the increased traffic over the holiday period, which he said could reduce the city’s popularity among tourists.

“We have to keep looking for investors to fund alternative solutions for mass transportation to [reduce] traffic jams,” Yusuf said, mentioning plans for a monorail connecting Bandung and surrounding regions, and a cable car network.

In Yogyakarta, tens of thousands of tourists were seen at a number of tourist resorts and handicraft centers, increasing the occupancy rate of both star-rated and non-star-rated hotels to 90 percent, up from around 50 percent on normal days.

In a number of favorite areas including the city’s legendary Jl. Malioboro, most hotels were fully booked. “We have been refusing guests since mid-June,” said a staff member of a non-star-rated hotel in the Jl. Malioboro area.

Yogyakarta municipal tourism promotion board chairman Dedy Pranowo said the number of tourists visiting the ancient city had increased by up to 30 percent this week and “will continue to increase until the end of the school holidays”.

The top three destinations for tourists visiting Yogyakarta were Borobudur Buddhist Temple in the neighboring town of Magelang, Central Java, Prambanan Temple in Yogyakarta and Yogyakarta Palace, he said.

Crowds of tourists were also seen at other resorts and sites including Beringharjo traditional market and Tamansari water castle in downtown Yogyakarta, Parangtritis Beach and Goa Cemara Beach in Bantul.

The surge in tourist numbers has also been a blessing for other businesses such as car rental services and souvenir centers.

“Just today we have received five bus-loads of tourists. Sometimes on normal days not even one bus comes,” said Budi, a parking attendant at PT Timboel Ceramic in Kasongan ceramic village, Bantul.

“Our sales have increased by around 30 percent this week,” said Timbul Raharjo, the owner of the company.

A similar situation was also seen at other souvenir centers in the area, including Manding leather handicraft center, and Giriloyo batik production center in Imogiri.