Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said one of the impacts of the natural disaster was that foreign tourist visits to the affected areas, as well as to Indonesia in general, could decrease.

Arief said the ministry had calculated that the country might lose as many as 100,000 foreign tourist visits within the first month after the earthquakes.

He explained that the number of visits by foreign tourists had begun to decline since Aug. 8, after the first series of earthquakes shook the province.

The slump in foreign tourist visits could see the country miss out on 300,000 visits, depending on the length of the recovery period, which the minister hoped would take only three months.

“When we look back at what happened during the volcanic eruption in Bali last September [...] other areas were also affected. Now, after the earthquakes hit NTB, visits to Bali have also decreased,” he said on the sidelines of a coordination meeting on the aftermath of the earthquakes between ministries, related agencies and House of Representatives (DPR) members on Monday. After the eruption of Mount Agung in Bali, Arief said the number of foreign tourist visits to Indonesia decreased by 1 million in total, 500,000 of which would have been visits to Bali.

Separately, Association of Indonesia Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA) chairman Asnawi Bahar said the nationwide impact of the NTB earthquakes on tourism came from the travel warnings issued for Indonesia by foreign governments.

“When Lombok was hit by the earthquakes, several countries issued travel warnings for Indonesia. They were not exactly accurate as Indonesia is a huge country, while Lombok is just a part of Indonesia,” Asnawi told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Tuesday.

Foreign tourist visits to Lombok, for example, could actually be directed to destinations with similar attractions, such as Banyuwangi in East Java or Toraja in South Sulawesi, he said.

Asnawi also predicted that the material losses from the drop in tourist visits would be significant, as foreign tourists in Indonesia spend around US$1,200 each on average.

He explained that the earthquakes had affected the business of at least 200 ASITA members based in NTB.

Asnawi added that the aftermath of the earthquakes could have multiplier effects. If tourism took a long time to recover, people whose lives depended on the industry, including those in the handicraft and souvenir sectors, could lose their livelihoods.

“At present, many employees are temporarily out of work because many tourism-related industries have not yet resumed operations. A few hotels have reopened, but it is not yet optimal,” he said.

During the coordination meeting, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Willem Rampangilei reported that, among others, at least 24 travel and tour agents, 105 hotels and homestays, 16 cultural heritage sites and 18 art studios operating in North Lombok had been affected by the earthquakes.

Although the number of foreign tourist visits had decreased, Arief believed that Indonesia would achieve at least 90 percent of its annual target of 17 million foreign visitors this year, with help from international events such as the Asian Games and the Asian Para Games.

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) reported that monthly tourist arrivals rose by 16.57 percent to 1.53 million in July from 1.31 million in June. During the period from January to July, the total number of foreign tourists rose to 9.06 million from 8.03 million recorded in the same period last year.

Popular

Volcano erupts in North Sulawesi, hundreds evacuated

Dubai roads, airport reel from floods after record rains

Ramadan boosts consumer confidence, retail sales