Spanking Israeli Retaliation Push on Indonesian Tourism

"Can only wait and pray. Wait and pray. "Thus, Rio Pattiselanno resignedly responded to the Israeli prohibition against citizens of Indonesia (WNI) to visit Jerusalem, the holy city of three celestial religions; Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.
The man who served as Director of Rhema Tours, a travel agency that 95% handle Christian pilgrimage tour, it is now only able to wait and pray.
Because the Israeli ban prevailing as of June 9, 2018 it eliminates the potential earnings bureau from Surabaya.
The travel agency that has been serving the pilgrimage for 14 years has received 3,000 packages of Christian pilgrimage tours to Israel until 2019. In fact, the order has been done since the beginning of this year.
He considered, the sudden ban that hit the tourism business outbound, especially religious tourism as he did.
Moreover, the ban is nearing the height of the holiday season, in which many Christians are planning to take leave with Idulfitri for a pilgrimage to the holy site, Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
"We are still trying to communicate with the Israeli side. We also convey to the priests [who will leave for pilgrimage tours] to wait and pray, because we do not know how to proceed. Can only wait and pray, because this can be said force majeur [condition majeure], "vent to Business.
In the midst of the issue of travel tires undertaken in response to Israel's support of Indonesia's support for Palestinian independence, Rio claimed to have offered a solution to their customers.
Among others by changing the route of other pilgrimages to Egypt, Jordan, or Turkey. However, still, he was forced to make a refund for the domestic tourists (wisnus) who did the cancellation.
Rio describes, in the country there are at least 85 travel agencies Christian pilgrimage tour. An average of one group can have 20 trip packages with a frequency of three to four times per month.
In total, he estimates the number of wisnuses who make Christian pilgrimage tours can reach at least 5,100 people per month, or about 61,200 people per year.
Meanwhile, the average price of a Christian pilgrimage tour package cost Rp20 million-Rp40 million depending on accommodation, with an old inn of 9-12 days. Thus, the loss of the bureaus due to Israel's prohibition is estimated to reach no less than Rp1, 22 trillion.
That's just counting from Christian pilgrimage tours, and has not calculated the impact of outbound tourism experienced by Muslim religious tourism bureau businessmen.
Commonly known, many umrah plus bureaus include the AL-Aqsa Mosque in its travel package, considering the mosque is the first mecca of Muslims, as well as the third largest holy mosque after the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Nabawi Mosque in Madinah
Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Hajj Pilgrim Society Organizer (Sapuhi) Syam Resfiadi assess, the dismissal of tourist visa for Indonesian passport owners to Israel is very impact for Muslim tourists who want to visit Al-Aqsa Mosque.
"For Muslims who plan to go to Lebaran there, but limited last June 9 may enter, then the program will change. It could be changed only to Jordan alone, "he said.
Syam said he was waiting for a decision from a travel agency partner in Israel to compensate for the ban on the costs incurred for pilgrim accommodation. If it can not be refunded, he admits the loss is to be borne by the congregation.
Each year there are about 100,000-150,000 Muslim tourists who visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque as part of the Umrah worship trip, where the peak is common during Ramadan. That number does not include about 25,000 Muslim tourists who made a special trip to Al-Aqsa Mosque outside Umrah.
He said the cost of the Umrah plus package that includes a visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque is usually priced at Rp40 million, while the special travel package to the Al-Aqsa Mosque is valued at around Rp25 million.
Of these values, it is estimated that the potential losses experienced by travel agencies for a special package of religious tourism to Al-Aqsa Mosque alone reached Rp625 billion.
Meanwhile, for umrah plus, Syam admitted the potential losses can be minimized by diverting the route to other religious tourism destinations.
Fortunately, the current halal tourism market in the world continues to grow, and more and more countries are serious about developing halal tourism, so it is not difficult to find an alternative Islamic religious tourism as a substitute for Israel.
"At the same time, almost all Muslim travel bureaus innovate with new products such as European, Eastern European, Moroccan, Spanish, Tunisian, Aljazir, Cairo, Central Asia, Turkey and even Asia as Thailand and Japan. It is not as popular as Umrah leaving for Al-Aqsa, but it could be an option, "he explained.

PUKULAN BERAT
Sebelumnya, Ketua Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (Asita) Asnawi Bahar menjelaskan, larangan bagi wisatawan nusantara untuk berkunjung ke Israel-Palestina menjadi pukulan tersendiri bagi industri pariwisata.
Dia menilai, seharusnya industri pariwisata justru memetik keuntungan di momentum libur panjang Lebaran. Namun, dengan adanya larangan ini, potensi tersebut menjadi hilang dan tidak bisa dimanfaatkan.
“Ini menjadi pukulan berat bagi kami. Kami harus menyelesaikan, bagaimana tiket pesawat tidak hangus, apakah konsumen mau terima hotel dijadwal ulang, sampai pengembalian uang. Kebijakan suatu negara menjadi beban yang berat bagi kami, karena kami menjual jasa,” ujarnya.
Berdasarkan data Kementerian Pariwisata Israel seperti dilansir www.globes.co, Minggu (3/6), jumlah wisatawan mancanegara yang mengunjungi Israel mencapai 1,36 juta sepanjang Januari—April 2018, tumbuh 25% dari periode yang sama tahun lalu.
Namun, situasi keamanan yang mengkhawatirkan diprediksi akan membuat upaya pemerintah Israel untuk melampaui capaian turis tahun lalu sebanyak total 3,6 juta turis menjadi semakin berat.
Kendati terus menunjukkan peningkatan, sejatinya kontribusi sektor pariwisata terhadap Produk Domestik Bruto (PDB) Israel masih sangat kecil.
Berdasarkan data World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), kontribusi langsung pariwisata hanya menyumbang 1,7% dari total PDB 2017, atau senilai US$5,8 miliar, dan diperkirakan meningkat menjadi 3,8% pada tahun ini.
Sementara itu, total kontribusi pariwisata terhadap PDB Israel pada 2017 menembus US$21,1 miliar, atau 6% dari total PDB 2017. Jumlah ini diperkirakan bertambah menjadi 6,5% dari PDB pada 2018, atau setara dengan US$34,6 miliar.
Keberanian Israel untuk melakukan pelarangan bagi wisnus barangkali menjadi cerminan dari masih rendahnya kontribusi pariwisata dalam menggerakkan perekonomian negara itu. Namun, yang jelas, banyak pihak yang dirugikan atas keputusan tersebut.
Selain biro perjalanan wisata outbond di Tanah Air, yang paling dirugikan tentu adalah masyarakat yang kehilangan haknya untuk beribadah dan mengunjungi tempat sucinya di Yerusalem. Sampai kapankah kondisi ini akan berlangsung?
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