Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Bantul
Community Health Centers in Bantul, Yogyakarta, one of Indonesia's major tourist destinations, are ready to serve patients over the Christmas holiday.
The centers will be opened 24-hours-a-day to anticipate an increase in the number of patients.
"We ask all health clinics to expand their services during the holiday season due to an increase in the number of tourists in Yogyakarta. We have to prepare ourselves to anticipate a rising number of patients here," said head of Bantul Health Office Siti Noor Zainab.
She said 16 of the 27 clinics in Bantul had hospital beds and most of them were located along main city roads, as well as on tourist routes.
"So, residents or tourists who need health services can be assisted," she added.
Parangtritis Search and Rescue (SAR) team secretary Taufik F Usman said 50 SAR team members had been assigned to guard beaches to anticipate any incidents over the holiday.
"We predict the number of tourists visiting beaches in the area will increase sharply. Therefore, we have appointed 50 of our 73 SAR team members to safeguard the most popular beaches, including Parangtritis, Depok, Samas and Pandansimo," he said.
According to data from the Yogyakarta Tourism Agency, the number of foreign tourists visiting the province tumbled from around 120,000 in 2005 to only 60,000 in 2006, after a powerful earthquake devastated Yogyakarta and its surroundings.
The number of foreign tourist arrivals to Yogyakarta is projected to rise again to about 70,000 by the end of this year.
Data also shows the number of local tourists to the province dropped to around 1.4 million in 2006 from 2 million in 2005, and is projected to increase to 1.6 million by the year end.
He added all of the SAR members had been equipped with rubber rafts, life vests and communication tools.
He said personnel would set up warning signs at several dangerous beaches to prevent tourists from swimming there.
"Nature-lover organizations from universities in Yogyakarta will also help us safeguard the beaches," he said.
Occupancy rates of hotels in Yogyakarta usually increase sharply during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Public Relations Manager of the Malioboro Ibis Hotel Eunike Martanti said all 148 of the hotel's rooms had been booked from Dec. 21 up to the end of the year.
She predicted the occupancy rate would return back to normal, to around 50 to 60 percent, by the beginning of January.
Public Relations Manager of the Yogyakarta Hyatt Hotel Erika said 80 percent of the 269 rooms at the hotel had been booked for the holidays.
Travel agents in Yogyakarta are also experiencing an increase in the number of ticket and tourism pack
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