THE weakening rupiah has put a damper on Indonesian consumers’ travel desires, causing outbound tour operators in the country to report a 20 to 25 per cent dip in travel bookings so far this year.
Rudiana, WITA Tour’s director of sales and marketing, told TTG Asia e-Daily that recent travel offers by airlines and tourism boards had failed to elicit much interest from customers.
“Singapore Airlines and Garuda Indonesia will hold their travel fairs this month and they are the industry benchmark, so results from these shows will paint (for) us a clearer picture of how Indonesia’s outbound leisure market will perform for the rest of the year and during 2016’s low season,” commented Rudiana.
However, with the rupiah now valued at 14,000 to US$1, the lowest ever since 1998, Rudiana is bracing for poor outbound business, especially as consumers wait for the currency depreciation to stabilise.
Exacerbating the cautious buying sentiments among Indonesians is the new government regulation for all transactions and prices to be in rupiah.
“Travellers who are used to buying their trips in US dollars are taken aback by the number of digits represented in rupiah. It affects them psychologically,” he said.
Anthony Akili, president and CEO of Smailing , also observed a change in travelling patterns. “(The poor economic situation today) isn’t stopping travel altogether, as Indonesians regard travel as a need. There is however, a shift in travel patterns. Those who have budgeted for their trips will still travel, but they are choosing either to shorten the vacation or head to a destination closer to home,” Akili explained.
As such, Akili expects domestic and regional travel to do well while longhaul demand will languish.
But Rama Tirtawisata, group managing director of Panorama Leisure Group, has found a silver lining in the cloud.
Tirtawisata said: “The strengthening of the US dollar has affected many countries, and data from Bank Indonesia shows that there are many currencies that have dipped deeper than the rupiah.”
Bank Indonesia’s 52-week data compilation on currency performance since June 30, 2014 reflected a 49 per cent decline in the Russian rouble against the greenback, a 27 per cent dip in the Turkish lira, and a 22 per cent fall in the Australian dollar. Some European currencies like the Swedish krona and the Danish krone were down between 19 and 22 per cent.
“The rupiah was down 14 per cent so it is stronger (than these currencies), which makes travelling to these countries cheaper,” said an optimistic Tirtawisata, who revealed that Panorama Tours Indonesia will focus on promoting these destinations with special packages soon.
“We will also allocate more budget for promotions and educate the market which is currently in shock,” he added.
Read more in TTG-PATA Travel Mart 2015 Show Daily
