Surviving in the Digital Age

It was almost noon and Sunandar had barely moved in his chair. The Trend Tour & Travel reservation clerk in Yogyakarta only occasionally twiddled on his computer and received phone calls. "At the beginning of December, there were hardly any tour orders. Things will pick up nearing Christmas and New Year," he said two weeks ago.

Sunandar, who has worked at the travel agency for three years, has become somewhat familiar with the business' patterns. Outside public holidays or school holidays, there are very few bookings, especially by domestic tourists. "This entire day there have only been 25 orders. Two from foreign tourists, from Amsterdam," he said. Usually, the travel agency on Jalan Kusumanegara in Yogyakarta draws up to 100 orders per day.

December 15, 2015