Lombok Tourism Hit Hard by Quake

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

A tourist area is deserted in the Senggigi Beach area, Batu Layar district, West Lombok regency, West Nusa Tenggara, Friday (24/8/2018). Most hotels, travel agents and services in the tourism sector stopped their activities after tourists stopped coming to the area following a series of earthquakes.

MATARAM, KOMPAS – Tourism in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara remains sluggish following a series of earthquakes that shook the island beginning on July 29. Tourism-related companies have lost billions of rupiah in potential income owing to the lack of tourists.  If no recovery efforts are immediately made, the local tourist industry may soon collapse.

The earthquakes affected tourism in almost all main tourist destinations in Lombok, such as in Gili Trawangan, Senggigi, Rinjani, and in the city of Mataram. Hotel occupancy rates have dropped sharply over the past three weeks on account of the lack of tourists. Incomes of the local tourism players, such as restaurants and small and medium business outlets, have also dropped significantly.

"The economy of Lombok has been paralyzed. The tourist sector, which has been the backbone of the region, has been inactive. The tourist sector has suffered losses in potential income ranging from Rp 70 billion to Rp 100 billion per day. Thousands of people involved in the tourist industry, such as travel agents, drivers, traders, and tourist guides have been unemployed due to the lack of tourists," said the chairman of the Lombok chapter of the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (Asita), Dewantoro Umbu Joka, in Mataram on Friday (24/8 /2018).

The 6.4-magnitude earthquake, which first hit Lombok on Sunday (29/7), also affected Mount Rinjani, which was then closed to climbers. A week later on Sunday (5/8), a 7-magnitude earthquake rocked the area again, paralyzing tourism in Lombok, especially in Senggigi and Gili Trawangan. Another 6-magnitude earthquake hit the region on Sunday (8/19), further worsening the condition.

Turbulence

The chairman of the Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI) in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Hadi Faesal, said that since Aug. 5, the occupancy rate of hotels in Lombok had dropped sharply from an average of 87 percent to only 30 percent. "Tourists exodus to Bali and Banyuwangi," said Hadi Faesal.

At Hotel Santika Mataram, for example, only 30 percent of 123 rooms were occupied.  The guests are mostly earthquake volunteers from a number of areas outside Lombok. "If it can reach 40 percent, it will be good," said the general manager of Santika Mataram, Reza Bovier.

At Aruna Senggigi Hotel, the occupancy rate is even worse. Only 15 percent of the 142 rooms are occupied. In fact, prior to the quakes, the occupancy rate could reach 90 percent.

At the Join Homestay in the Ketapang hamlet, Kuta village, Pujut District, Central Lombok, only one of the 14 rooms was occupied.

According to data of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in NTB, in 2017, the number of hotels in the province reached 947 with 13,265 rooms and employed 8,674 workers. The number of guests reached an average of 292,500 people per month.

Under normal conditions, about 10,000 domestic and foreign tourists arrive in Lombok per day. About 40 percent of them enjoy their holidays in Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air. Travelers usually stay two to three days in Lombok and spend around Rp 3 million to Rp 5 million in one visit.

Fauzi Gafar, a tour guide, said, he had lost income after the earthquake struck Lombok.  He usually earned at least Rp 750,000 per week. He guided between 30 and 40 tourists a week. From the tourists, Fauzi received a fee of Rp 25,000 per person, in addition to getting tips from hotels and travel businesses.

Not only that, tourist players may see further loss in income because many tourists have canceled plans to visit. Sahnan, the owner of Sea Indo Holidays Travel, said a number of individual and group guests who had booked five-day and four-night stays in the hotel had canceled their visit to Lombok following the series of earthquakes. They were initially scheduled to arrive in Lombok on Oct. 13.

NTB Tourism Agency head Lalu M. Faozal acknowledged that tourism in NTB was experiencing turbulence. The earthquakes have damaged infrastructure, such as roads leading to tourist destinations such as Gili and Mount Rinjani.

"As many as 60 percent of hotels and restaurants on Gili are damaged, while the climbing route on Rinjani is still cut off due to landslides. This condition disrupts the convenience of traveling," said Faozal.

Ruslan, 40, of Lombok Amazing Panorama, among  travel agencies in Senggigi, expects the government to hold various activities to lure tourists back to Lombok. With such activities, tourists will feel more confident that  Lombok is safe to visit. "Agents in Europe always ask about the latest condition in Lombok after the earthquakes," Ruslan said.

Inflation control

The deputy director of the Regional III division of Bank Indonesia, Ronny Widijarto, explained that economic recovery efforts on the island had been begun with inflation control.

The central bank and the local government had begun to jointly monitor the price movement of a number of staple items.  The Regional Inflation Control Team (TPID), for example, had also begun to check distribution channels and prices of goods.

"We’re monitoring possible increases in the price of fuel and volatile foods that are quite sensitive to weather disturbances," said Ronny. Although the economy is slowing down, said Ronny, tourism remained a source of growth.

The rehabilitation of buildings and infrastructure in tourist areas must be prioritized, for example in the special economic area of Mandalika, which is part of the government’s program to develop 10 new destinations outside Bali. Tourism activities will accelerate economic growth and increase foreign exchange reserves.

(ILO/SYA/ZAK/RUL/JUM/KRN)