Economic Activities Grow Ahead of Idul Fitri

Economic activities have begun to increase ahead of the Idul Fitri holiday. Millions of people are expected to spend hundreds of trillions of rupiah in their hometowns during the extended holiday.

KOMPAS/ISMAIL ZAKARIA

An employee of Bintang Jaya Kripik Balado 4x7 in Belakang Olo, Padang Barang, Padang city, West Sumatra, serves a customer on Friday (25/5/2018). Entering the homebound exodus and Lebaran period, culinary and snack businesses in Padang have increased production amid growing demand.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Business activities are expected to flourish during the long Idul Fitri holiday this year. Tourist destinations in the country are preparing to receive millions of travelers who will spend up to hundreds of trillions of rupiah during the holidays.

Transportation infrastructure, such as toll roads, regular roads, double-track railways and airports, are ready to serve travelers who are celebrating Idul Fitri 1439 Hijri in their hometowns.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi and Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono have indicated that the 1,167-kilometer Trans-Java Toll Road linking Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya would be fully operational before Idul Fitri.

"The toll road is only one alternative. There is also a national road that is in good condition," Basuki said last week.

There is also a new airport, the West Java International Airport in Kertajati, Majalengka, which President Joko Widodo inaugurated on Thursday. The airport is scheduled to begin commercial operations on June 8.

Basuki said the road infrastructure for this year’s mudik (homebound exodus) was better prepared, because the toll roads on Java had been connected through Pasuruan, East Java.

A buildup of vehicles at tollgates was expected. However, as the span of the connected toll road segments had increased, traffic flow was expected to be smooth. Good traffic management will be key in controlling the flow of traffic.

The Transportation Ministry expects that the number of travelers during this year’s Idul Fitri holiday will increase from 10 to 16 percent to 19.5 million people.

The massive movement of people during the Idul Fitri exodus will have a great impact on the economy. According to Kompas’s data, money in circulation during the 2017 Idul Fitri holiday in reached a total of Rp 163.6 trillion.

Bank Indonesia has estimated that money in circulation during this year’s Idul Fitri holiday will increase by 10 to 12 percent to Rp 200 trillion. This is almost seven times the West Java regional budget (APBD). The economic impact will be greater this year, because the government will provide Idul Fitri bonuses and the 13th month salary to civil servants and government retirees.

Nevertheless, economic observer Faisal Basri has pointed out that many Indonesians would also travel abroad during the long Idul Fitri holiday, spending a lot of money abroad and thus not impacting the country’s economy. "This is something we should be worried about," he said.

Travel packages

Businesses in tourism and related industries are trying to make the most of this year’s annual exodus to benefit more. "During this year\'s Idul Fitri holiday, about 40,000 travelers are expected to visit Mount Tangkuban Parahu every day," said Iwan Herdiawan, the development coordinator at Sari Ater Hotel & Resort, referring to the hot spring at the foot of Mt Tangkuban Parahu in Subang. A large stage called the Queen Stage will be built to host local cultural performances such as the jaipongan and sisingaan dances, and the Subang traditional acrobatics, lais.

Hotel Santika Sukabumi general manager Reno Mardiansyah said the hotel’s management would raise its room rates, with standard room rates increased from Rp 580,000 to Rp 750,000 per night.

Sukabumi is home to Batu Bacan Lake, the Curug Waterfall, the Citarik River, the Salabintana River, Palabuhanratu Beach and Ciletuh Geopark in South Sukabumi, which was recognized as a global geopark by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) early this year.

Businesses in Bandung are also doing the same thing. The marketing communication manager of the Ibis Bandung Trans Studio hotel, Dina Novia Faisal, said the hotel would raise its room rates for the second and third day after Idul Fitri, when the hotel expected occupancy to increase sharply.

However, clothing stores in Bandung are offering large discounts, including at D\'Fashion Bandung that specializes in textiles and batik. "We are offering a 35 percent discount specially for the month of Ramadhan," said D\'Fashion manager Ravi R Kumar.

Bali tourism office head Anak Agung Gede Yuniartha Putra is upbeat that the number of domestic tourists visiting Bali during the Idul Fitri holiday would increase sharply.

"A number of cultural festivals will be held in Bali. The festivals will be specially performed for tourists during their visit to Bali," said the chairman of the Badung hotel and restaurant association (PHRI), I Gusti Ngurah Rai Suryawijaya. In addition, a Bali Arts Festival will also be held on June 23 in Denpasar.

In East Java, the Surabaya administration will offer a citywide tour in the. People can tour the "City of Heroes" by bus or by boat during Idul Fitri.

The acting head of the Surabaya tourism office, Irvan Widyanto, said the tourism office would provide the tour buses and boats. “On the city tour, the travelers can see the entire city during the day or at night," he said.

Meanwhile, Yogyakarta tourism office head Aris Riyanta said village tourist destinations were also ready to welcome travelers. He said that the services and accommodations in these villages were as good as those at hotels.

The Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis) of Nglanggeran village in Gunung Kidul regency, for example, manages the Nglanggeran and Embung Nglanggeran volcanos, the Kedung Kandang Waterfall and the Griya Cokelat Nglanggeran building. The village has about 80 inns for tourists.

The management of Yogyakarta’s Gembira Loka Zoo will open a new attraction called the Claw Zone. "The claw zone will show hoofed carnivores," said Eros Yan Renanda, the zoo’s head of public relations.

A number of tourism-related companies in Semarang are also trying not to miss out on the opportunities. They will also prepare city tour packages at competitive rates. Yuliansyah Ariawan, the owner of a tour company in Old Semarang, said his company’s bicycles and walking tour packages to a number of cultural heritage sites in the city would remain open during Idul Fitri.

(Team Kompas)