March 2008 - Archive 0002
Indonesia’s complex Issues in a Nutshell
Published by: TBSC-Strategic Communication
No.: 05.08 – Dated: 6 April 2008
Indonesia Inbound Tourists up 14.6%, to Bali up 30%
International visitors to Indonesia during the first two months this year improved with 14.58% compared to the same period in 2007, announced Indonesia’s Central Bureau for Statistics. Increases were made in the number of tourists through the airport of Bali up 29.75%, Jakarta improved by 15.4%, and Batam up 5.23%.
Meanwhile, balidiscovery.com reported that February 2008 arrivals to Bali hit 153,465 – a +29.75% increase over February 2007 (118,275). February also saw a historical shift in main source markets to Bali. For many years, Bali's leading four source markets, in order of importance, have been 1) Japan, 2) Australia, 3) Taiwan and ) South Korea.
In February 2008 these numbers shifted to 1) Japan, 2) Peoples Republic of China , 3) Australia, 4) Taiwan and 5) South Korea.
In addition to the sudden increase in Chinese visitors, also worthy of note is the strong performance from Malaysia now less than 1,000 visitors away from displacing Korea's ranking in the number 5 slot.
Australians return to Bali
Earlier, the Department of Culture and Tourism through its website budpar.go.id quoting Antara said that Australians’ love affair with Bali has surged in the latest calendar year with ABS figures showing a 63% growth in the number of Australians holidaying in Bali, and the “Island of the Gods” establishing itself as our second most popular Asian tourist destination.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics indicated that 206,427 Australian residents traveled to Indonesia on holiday in 2007 against 126,595 in 2006.
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The trend has been strong throughout the year and is continuing, says Garuda Indonesia’s General Manager, Australia and the Southwest Pacific, Mr Poerwoko Soeparyono.
“It’s fantastic to see so many Australians traveling to Bali again and we look forward to the time that Bali is again Australia’s number one overseas holiday destination,” he said.
“2007 has been excellent for Bali and for Indonesia internationally, with the success of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) capping off a momentous year for Bali. More than 10,000 participants from nearly 190 counties gave our MICE business a huge boost and put us right back on the map. We were also gratified to see that Bali was the first overseas destination of the new Australian Prime Minister Mr Rudd and even our former deputy Prime Minister is choosing to holiday in Bali.
“I know that Australians love Bali and the Balinese love Australians. This strong relationship has helped make Australia Bali’s second most popular source of tourists only behind Japan – and this in a year when arrivals are very strong from all around the globe.”
Garuda Indonesia flies 27 times from Australia to Bali per week (23 times direct to Bali, plus 4 times a week via Jakarta) with flights departing from Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Darwin. Currently Garuda Indonesia offers some of the lowest airfares ever seen, starting at only $599* return from Sydney or $695* return from Melbourne. (* not including surcharges)
Employment in Bali rising with record tourist arrivals |
Concurrent with improved tourist arrival to Bali, the employment rate has improved since beginning last year, revealed an economic study of Bank Indonesia Bali, reported Kompas daily. August 2007 statistics showed a positive increase to 1.9 million total work force on the island, up from 1.8 million the previous year. Tourism, trade and agriculture still constitute Bali’s economic backbone, with the harvest season of fruits, citrus, coffee and cloves providing 31,200 jobs. Bank Indonesia, however also noted that 50% of unemployed are in the urban areas of Denpasar and Badung. While, Head of the Regional Tourism, I Gede Nurjaya said that tourist arrivals in Bali in 2007 reached a record 1.65 million, best recorded during the past decade.
Therefore, Nurjaya remains confident that the targeted tourist arrivals to Bali of 1.8 million to 1.9 million tourists in this Visit Indonesia Year will be attainable. Visitors’ perception on Indonesia’s Safety and Hygiene improved significantly
A Passenger Exit Survey undertaken in 2007 showed that visitors’ perception on Safety and Hygiene in Indonesia has improved significantly compared to the year before. Asked on their perception on safety in Indonesia, 49.18% replied that they found safety to be “good”, compared to 30.28% in 2006. While, when including those responding “very good” (12.91%) and “average” (35.25%), the total came to 94.49%, reported budpar.go.id.
Visitors’ perception on ‘safety’ improved after their actual visit to Indonesia. If before departure 35.54% expected safety to be “good”, this number increased to 49.18% after their actual visit.
Whereas, those who considered “safety” to be “bad” were 4.68% of respondents while those who thought it to be “very bad” dropped to 0.8%. These figures are significantly lower compared to 2006 when 24.05% and 2.98% considered the safety situation to be “bad” and very bad” respectively.
On the subject of Hygiene, perceptions improved somewhat after their visit. Those who considered hygiene to be “good” after their actual visit totaled 25.49% of respondents, up from 21.48% who anticipated that hygiene would be “good” before arrival.
While those who considered ”hygiene” in Indonesia to be ”average” before arrival amounted to 47.85%. This percentage dropped to 39.65% after their actual experience during their visit here. Therefore, visitors’ perception on hygiene in Indonesia who considered it “good” and “average” totaled 65.14%, while those who deemed it ‘very good’ were 4.67%, whereas, those who thought hygiene to be ‘bad’ were 24.09%, and ‘very bad’ 6.10%. The figures on ‘Hygiene” have remained more or less constant compared to the survey in 2006, said budpar.go.id
The 2007 Passenger Exit Survey was undertaken at 8 international entry ports namely at the airports at Jakarta’s Sukarno-Hatta, Bali’s Ngurah Rai, Medan’s Polonia, Surabaya’s Juanda, Manado’s Sam Ratulangi, Pontianak’s Sepinggan, and at Batam’s airport, and the overland border at Entikong. The survey was done in two stages the first included some 4,520 respondents and the second had 5,420 respondents, reports budpar.go.id |
