ERUPTION OF MOUNT RAUNG MAY DISTURB TOURISM TARGET

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 11 (Antara) -- It is feared that the eruption of Mount Raung in Bondowoso, East Java, last Sunday, which forced five airports in the country to halt operations temporarily, will affect Indonesia's tourism target this year.          Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said on Friday that the temporary closure of a number of airports due to the volcanic activity of Mount Raung could disturb the government's target to attract 10.6 million foreign tourists this year.          Mount Raung erupted on July 5, spewing plumes of smoke, incandescent cinder, and lava. One of the active volcanoes on Java Island, it is 3,332 meters above sea level and is located in the borders of Banyuwangi, Bondowoso and Jember districts in East Java province.          Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport was temporarily closed Thursday night. It was reopened at 10 a.m. Central Indonesia Time (GMT+8) on Saturday after being shut for more than 24 hours.          "Ngurah Rai Airport was resumed operations today (Saturday, July 11) at 10 a.m. local time," Head of the Public Communications Center Julius Andravida Barata said in an SMS in Jakarta on Saturday.            The airport was reopened after they received Note to Airmen No. A1420/15 once the flow of volcanic ashes subsided.          However, Minister Yahya believes that the volcanic activity will continue to disturb flights.          "Bali is the country's main gateway for foreign tourist arrivals. As much as 40 percent of the total foreign tourists visiting Indonesia come through Bali," he pointed out.          Some 10,000 foreign tourists arrive in Indonesia through Ngurah Rai Airport every day, Yahya stated, adding that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the province could reach 11,000 persons per day during peak seasons in July and December.          "If the eruption of Mount Raung protracts and Ngurah Rai Airport is frequently forced to halt operations along with other surrounding airports, it will disturb our efforts to achieve the country's tourism target," the minister explained.          Besides Ngurah Rai Airport, four other Indonesian airports---Lombok International Airport, and Selaparang Airport in West Nusa Tenggara province, Blimbingsari Airport in Banyuwangi, East Java province, and Notohadinegoro Airport in Jember, East Java---were also shut down temporarily due to the eruption of the volcano in East Java.         Moreover, some 277 flights to and from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport were cancelled due to the eruption of Mount Raung, which spewed volcanic ash clouds that began drifting towards Bali.        "Of the total, 160 were domestic flights and 117 international flights," the general manager of the airport's Angkasa Pusa I subsidiary, Trikora Harjo, informed the press here on Friday.         As a result of the closure of the airport on Thursday, July 9, passengers stranded in Bali due to the cancellation of their flights were accommodated in hotels.         In addition, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya affirmed that his ministry will continue to take anticipatory measures to overcome the problem of possible temporary closures of airports, by developing overland tourism.         He is also convinced that the eruption of Mount Raung will not reduce travelers' interest in the country because it is a natural phenomenon, which can occur anywhere.         "We will try to promote tourism in Bali by land travel and promote destinations along the route in Surabaya and Banyuwangi in East Java at the same time," he stated.          This year, the government has set a target to attract 10 million foreign tourists to visit Indonesia. The number of foreign tourist arrivals in the country is expected to continue to increase till it reaches the 20 million mark in 2020.          Furthermore, as many as 1.51 million foreign tourists visited Bali in the January to May period this year, which is an 11.30 percent rise from that in the same period last year.          The January to May period of 2014 recorded 1.39 million foreign tourist arrivals in the resort island.          "Most tourists visited Bali directly from their country through Ngurah Rai Airport, while only 42,145 people arrived on cruises at the seaport," Head of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Bali Panusunan Siregar said here on Wednesday.          He added that foreign tourist visits in May was recorded at 295,973, of which as many as 287,141 people entered the province through Ngurah Rai Airport and 8,832 came via the seaport.          "Foreign tourist arrivals increased 3.48 percent from that in the same month last year," Siregar pointed out.          On the national scale, the number of tourists visiting Indonesia rose 5.47 percent to 793,500 in May from 752,400 in April, according to the BPS.          Cumulatively, tourist arrivals from January to May reached 3.84 million, a 3.85 percent increase compared to that in the corresponding period last year, BPS Chairman Suryamin noted on Wednesday.          In addition,  tourists visiting Indonesia via Sam Ratulangi Airport in North Sulawesi rose 34.94 percent, while those visiting via Entikong in West Kalimantan increased 17.81 percent and via Batam in Riau Islands by 11.86 percent.         However, the number of tourist arrivals through Adi Sumarmo Airport in Central Java and Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta fell 42.90 percent and 4.19 percent respectively.         As compared to the figures in April, tourist arrivals through Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport dropped 7.34 percent, he revealed.         "However, tourist arrivals via Ngurah Rai Airport in May was better because it rose 0.41 percent to 287,100 from 286 thousand in the same month last year," he pointed out.         The government aims to attract 10.06 million foreign visitors to Indonesia this year, which is an increase of 7 percent from the target set in2014.   ***1*** (T.A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.SYS/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 11-07-2015 17:35