Foreign Tourists Visits Decrease, Losses In The Tourism Sector Will Swell To IDR 85.4 Trillion

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Association of Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants (PHRI) projects that national tourism will suffer losses of IDR 85.4 trillion due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This loss is due to a decrease in the number of foreign tourist visits (tourists) to minus 44 percent.

PHRI Chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani said the decline in the number of foreign tourists also had an impact on hotel and restaurant occupancy. In fact, as many as 2,000 hotels and 8,000 restaurants throughout Indonesia have closed operations.

Furthermore, Hariyadi said, he said restaurants and hotels were not only due to no visits, but also because of the imposition of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) due to the lack of occupancy.

"The loss for the hotel sector is Rp. 30 trillion, and the restaurant is Rp. 40 trillion as of last April. Then, the loss for airlines is US $ 812 million or the equivalent of Rp. 11.4 trillion," he said in a virtual hearing. with Commission X of the House of Representatives in Jakarta, Tuesday, July 14.

In addition, Hariyadi said, the tour operator also suffered a loss of IDR 4 trillion. So, if the amount is accumulated, it reaches Rp. 85.4 trillion.

Based on data from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), this year's foreign tourist visits can contract by up to minus 44 percent. Hariyadi said this was because more than 500 million tourists prefer not to have holidays abroad until the conditions for the spread of the plague are again conducive.

According to Hariyadi, this condition is reflected in the number of flights in the Asia Pacific region which also contracted by minus 37 percent in April. Meanwhile, the number of visits by domestic tourists is not expected to be able to cover the vacancies left by foreign tourists.

"In 2018 the number of domestic tourists was around 303 million people, but in 2019 it fell to 275 million people due to ticket price constraints at that time. It is likely that now it will drop again due to the pandemic and difficulties with regulations if you want to get on a plane," he explained.

Hariyadi explained, with very difficult conditions like now, 95 percent of hotel entrepreneurs choose to lay off their employees or provide unpaid leave.

As is well known, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the tourism sector the first to be affected. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) noted that the number of foreign tourist visits to Indonesia in May 2020 had decreased by 86.90 percent compared to the number in May 2019. The number of foreign tourist visits (tourists) was recorded at only 163.6 thousand.

Number of foreign tourists

Head of BPS Suhariyanto said foreign tourists visiting Indonesia in May actually increased slightly compared to the previous month. In April 2020, foreign tourist visits were recorded at 158.7 thousand. This means that there is an increase of 3.1 percent in May 2020.

"This increase occurred in several places, but a very high decline occurred at almost all entrances. Meanwhile, the number of foreign tourists compared to last year, decreased steeply by 86.90 percent," he said in a video conference in Jakarta, Wednesday, July 1.

Of the foreign tourist visits in May 2020, the majority used land transportation of 114.7 thousand or 70.1 percent. Meanwhile, for sea transportation the amount is 48.4 thousand or 29.6 percent and air transportation is only 0.5 thousand or 0.3 percent.

Based on nationality, foreign tourists from Timor Leste dominated as much as 81.5 thousand or 49.8 percent. Then followed from Malaysia 66.4 thousand or 40.6 percent, China 1.9 thousand or 1.2 percent, and others 13.8 thousand or 8.4 percent.

Cumulatively from January to May, the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia reached 2.93 million. The number of visits decreased by 53.36 percent compared to foreign tourists visiting in the same period last year which amounted to 6.28 million.