Jakarta –
The Israeli and Palestinian war has had a significant impact on many industries, including Israeli tourism. Tour operators in Indonesia are making losses.
Since the war broke out on October 7, the situation in Israel and Palestine has been dire. The atmosphere in Israel and Palestine is no different from a human slaughterhouse.
A number of airlines then stopped flights. Airspace, including the Great Circle route through Siberia, a popular gateway between continents, was also closed.
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The impact of the war had a direct impact on tour operators in Indonesia. One of them, the Holy Land tour package or holy trip to Israel, which is one of the tourist activities that Christians are interested in, can no longer be done.
“On average, Holy Land tour packages come in and out of Tel Aviv or enter via Amman and exit in Cairo, Egypt. For the Tel Aviv route, all are fully refundable, but for Amman/Cairo on average there is a deadline for rescheduling,” said Pauline Suharno, Chair of DPP ASTINDO (Indonesian Travel Agent Association) to detikTravel.
Pauline explained that travel agents offering holy land tours have different policies in responding to unfavorable situations in Israel and Palestine. If a traveler has made a deposit, it can generally be used for the next trip.
“What is forfeited and non-refundable is visa processing,” he said.
Talking about losses, Pauline gave a bitter picture of what tour operators felt. He said that anything that was rescheduled would be a loss.
“Loss in terms of time, travel agent staff have already made preparations. After the sales effort, the moral loss is greater,” he said.
Selling tour packages requires marketing costs and consulting services. All preparations were in vain because they didn’t leave according to schedule.
Most Indonesian tour participants choose to refund or refund. Pauline added that this incident meant that tour participants did not want to be charged fees.
“If they could get a refund, they would definitely choose a refund, but we are directing them as much as possible to do so reschedule around March,” he said.
The Holy Land tour package costs from IDR 37 million for a 9-day trip to Jerusalem alone. Meanwhile, the 8-day Jerusalem-Egypt trip starts from IDR 43 million.
“The loss may be 1/4 of the cost of the tour. Travel agents are biting their fingers,” he said.
Holy Land tours typically consist of 3-100 participants. This is why losses in the preparation sector are the most parachuting.
“So far, none of the tour participants have made a fuss about their insistence. Most have resigned because they know this is the result of the war,” he said.
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(bnl/fem)