City to restore five heritage buildings

Agnes Winarti, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Wed, 02/11/2009 11:20 AM  

The city administration will start restoration work to four museum buildings and the Conservation Institute office by April this year, an official said Tuesday. 

“The administration has approved the budget for the renovation of the five heritage buildings,” said Arie Budhiman, the head of the city tourism and cultural agency, Tuesday. “The buildings need urgent restoration.” 

The city allocated Rp 5 billion (US$454,545) for the restoration of  Joang 1945 Museum, Rp 5 billion for the Textile Museum, Rp 3 billion for the Puppet Museum, Rp 2.5 billion for the MH Thamrin Museum and Rp 5 billion for the Conservation Institute (Balai Konservasi) office. 

“Hopefully, restoration can start April or early May, if the funds are disbursed this month,” Arie said. 

The Joang 1945 Museum (the 1945 Struggle for Independence Museum) is located on Jl. Menteng Raya, the Textile Museum is on Jl. KS Tubun, Petamburan, Tanah Abang, the MH Thamrin Museum is on Jl. Kenari, Senen, all in Central Jakarta. Both the Puppet Museum and the Conservation Institute are located on Jl. Pintu Besar Utara in West Jakarta. 

“Restoration of the five buildings is needed to maintain visitors’ safety and comfort,” Arie said.

 He said restoration of heritage buildings like museums could be regarded as part of efforts to increase tourism. 

The city administration has a total of nine museums under its authority — the Jakarta History Museum, Maritime Museum, Puppet Museum, Ceramic and Fine Arts Museum, Textile Museum, Joang 45 Museum, Prasasti Museum, Onrust Archaeology Park and Proclamator Park at the National Monument. 

The administration received Rp 4.1 billion in revenue from people visiting the city’s museums last year, exceeding its target of Rp 3.6 billion. 

This year, the agency aims to net Rp 3.9 billion from museum visitors. 

Despite setting the target lower than the level of revenue reached last year, Arie said, “We are optimistic about getting a 5 percent increase in revenue this year.” 

The agency has allocated Rp 60 billion this year toward promoting Jakarta to foreign tourists.

Marketing campaigns will be performed extensively in Southeast Asia, East Asia, Europe and the Middle East. 

This year, the agency is hoping to welcome 20 million local and 1.7 million foreign tourists to Jakarta. 

City secretary Muhayat said, as quoted by beritajakarta.com on Tuesday, tourism was a significant contributor to city revenue. 

Last year, tourism contributed Rp 1.5 trillion, or 14.54 percent of Jakarta’s total revenue.

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Macao establishes tourism office in Indonesia

www.chinaview.cn , 2009-02-09 19:57:19   

MACAO, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Monday announced the appointment of Intra REPS, an Indonesian tourism consulting firm, as its first representative in Indonesia, in a bid to boost tourist arrivals from the Southeast Asian nation. 

This is the 17th MGTO office around the world. To tap the Indonesian market, MGTO also hosted tourism production seminar and press conference in Indonesia on Monday. 

MGTO Director Joao Manuel Costa Antunes said the Indonesian market is one of the potential markets in Asia and with the assistance of the appointed representative which has extensive experience and network in the travel and tourism industry in Indonesia, will help to promote and further expand the South East Asian source market for Macao, according to the press release from the MGTO. 

This was part of the efforts made by the MGTO to diversify Macao's international market profile, which still heavily depends on the Chinese mainland. 

The direct airline launched in 2006 between Macao and Indonesia almost doubled the number of Indonesian visitor arrivals to Macao in a year. Statistics from the MGTO showed that the SAR logged over 187,752 visitor arrivals from Indonesia last year, with an outstanding year-on-year increase of 40.72 percent.

Tourism up while spending down this year, says minister

Andra Wisnu, THE JAKARTA POST, GIANYAR | Mon, 02/02/2009 9:53 AM  

Tourism and Culture Minister Jero Wacik expressed optimism that the country’s tourism industry will remain strong this year, though tourists would spend less due to the global financial crisis. 

During a visit to the XII summit of the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) in the Royal Pitamaha hotel in Ubud, Gianyar, on Saturday, Jero said tourism will remain strong despite concerns that the global financial crisis would deter people from holidaying. 

“The global financial crisis will not prevent people from holidaying. It will just deter them from traveling far. So expect Germans to just travel to Spain instead of Indonesia,”he said. 

“But at the same time, tourists in Asian countries would be doing the same thing, and we can expect more travelers from Japan or Taiwan.” 

The concerns stemmed from the fact that Indonesia missed its original target of 7 million foreign tourists by the end of 2008, recording 6.4 million arrivals instead. 

The 6.4 million is in line with the ministry’s revised target however, with Jero quickly adding that the number was still higher than 2007, which saw slightly more than 5.5 million arrivals.

The revision to the target was made in October. 

He added that the tourism industry last year generated an income of US$7.5 billion, significantly higher than the expected $ 6 billion in the ministry’s revised target.

Jero predicted that Indonesia would see 6.5 million tourists by the end of 2009. 

“It’s a moderate target, but still higher than our record in 2007,” he said. 

He said the global financial crisis would hit tourists “pockets” though, further predicting that average tourist spending per visit would decrease from $1,170 in 2008 to $1,000 this year. 

He reminded participants that this was still an increase on the record figure in 2007 when tourists spent an average of Rp $970 per visit. 

He told tourist sector businessmen not to worry about the decreased spending, saying that domestic travelers has been spending more and more within the past years. 

Meanwhile, according to data from the Central Statistics Agency, domestic travelers’ expenditure rose to an average of Rp 406,350 (US$34.37) per trip in 2007 from Rp 324,000 in 2001.  

Indonesians have also been traveling more, as the same data recorded an increase to about 116 million travelers in 2007 from 103 million in 2001. 

Jero said he had began several programs to boost domestic travel such as working out a plan with the Bali General Election Commission to turn this year’s campaign season into an arts and culture festival. 

“This year, domestic travelers will be our secret weapon,” Jero said.

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Benoa all set to welcome cruise ships this year

Wasti Atmodjo, THE JAKARTA POST, DENPASAR | Thu, 01/22/2009 1:49 PM  

Now in the last stages of construction, the Benoa port upgrade, to support turn-around services for cruise ships that meet international standards, should be ready to berth ships soon, state-owned PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) III said. 

"If all parties *including local tourism businesses* are in agreement, we can begin receiving cruise ships into Benoa port this year," 

Pelindo III general manager Bambang Priyanto said after a meeting Monday with Bali's provincial legislative council (DPRD) and the city administration. 

Benoa port has been upgrading its infrastructure since late 2007 to expand its services beyond its longtime role as a cargo and refueling port. 

The government has reportedly been trying to outfit the port with hotels, landscaped gardens, trade centers and other upscale passenger-port facilities. 

The development plans behind Benoa's expansion, which included setting aside two hectares of land at the port, have not been fi nalized. But Pelindo III is apparently not waiting for these facilities to be fully operational before scheduling cruise ships to stay overnight. 

The port's current size - 3.6 kilometers in length and 150 meters in width - should allow ships under 200 meters long to stop over. Only two such cruise ships can berth at a time. 

"Even with this limited capability, we can still make sure the users will be satisfi ed," Bambang said. 

He said starting up the facility would enhance Bali's popularity as a tourist spot, citing the island's strategic location as a bridge between the continent of Asia and Australia. 

The distance between Benoa and Singapore is 1,488 kilometers, from Benoa to Darwin, 1,550. 

"Our position smack dab in the middle makes it one of the best stopoff choices for cruise ships passing through the region," Bambang said.

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Indonesia aiming to attract more tourists from Macau

Indonesia is looking to attract more tourists from Macau including locals and expats to the country. 

By Sara Farr, Macau Daily Times, Friday, 02 January 2009 

Although local low cost carrier, Viva Macau, already flies five times a week to Jakarta, the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism wants to attract more locals and international tourists in Macau to explore other destinations in the country, Sapta Nirwandar, director general of marketing from the Ministry said. 

Speaking to the Macau Daily Times, during his visit to the SAR, Nirwandar said he hopes more people in Macau will visit Indonesia. 

“In Macau there are not only locals but also many expats living here, and Macau is now a major destination around the world receiving more than 20 million visitors each year. So we're inviting them to extend their visit to Indonesia, specially for a holiday destination,” Nirwandar said. 

Although there are no direct flight from Macau, to other destinations such as Bali, Nirwandar said the Indonesian government is trying to connect with other local airlines in Indonesia to connect flights between Jakarta and other destinations. 

“That means they [tourists] fly to Jakarta [from Macau] this time and maybe next time they will go to Bali. From jakarta it's easy to go to Bali, and there are many flights,” he said. 

Over the past two years since Viva Macau first flew to Jakarta, the number of visitors from Macau is “not bad.” 

“It's good, and that's why we want to increase [the number],” Nirwandar said, adding that the number of flights from Macau to Jakarta increased from twice a week to five times a week. 

“And next it will be increased to seven times a week... depends on the reediness of the market. That's why we're trying to promote awareness for the local people in Macau, expats and also international visitors to extend their visits [to Indonesia].” 

For Indonesia, Macau is seen as a strategic location because it is close to Guangdong and other mainland provinces. 

“These people can go to Indonesia via Macau, because the prices too are more competitive than flying from Hong Kong,” Nirwandar said, adding that although someone in Macau might choose to go to Bali via Hong Kong because of its direct flights, the prices are still more competitive, with the price of flights being cheaper from Macau even with connecting flights. 

“So what we want is to combine two airlines, Viva Macau and a local airline in Indonesia,” he said. 

Travellers in Indonesia do not have to settle for lazying around the hotel pool or tropical beaches. 

Expats have been going to the country for golfing as well as wellness spas. But Macau too has something different to offer Indonesians, mainly shopping, family entertainment, edutainment and gaming. 

“I'll be honest with you, of course there are many Indonesians who try to experience gambling, and that's also a reason for them to want to come to Macau,” the director general said, adding that regardless of the reason, Indonesia has seen an increasing number of tourists travelling to the SAR. 

In the next five years the number of tourists to Indonesia, from Macau alone, will increase, according to Nirwandar, who added that the market and will is “already there.” 

During his visit to the SAR, Nirwandar also met with the director for the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Joao Costa Antunes, who is looking to open a representative office in Indonesia as early as next month.

Yogyakarta expects 500,000 tourists

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta | Sat, 12/27/2008 10:56 AM  

Thousands of visitors are making their way to Yogyakarta for their year-end vacation, evident from the full bookings at star-rated hotels and modest lodgings as well as from sold-out travel tickets. 

As a tourist destination, Yogyakarta offers many attractions, including culture, food and heritage as well as alternative excursions such as rural tourism. 

Malaysian tourists have even chosen the city as the best overseas tourist destination this year. 

A number of tour sites, including Prambanan Temple, the Yogyakarta Palace and Parangtritis beach have seen a surge in the number of visitors. 

In all, 500,000 visitors are expected to show up in Yogyakarta for some year-end vacationing. 

To bolster security, the Yogyakarta Police have mobilized 1,900 officers to patrol public places: houses of worship, hotels, malls, train stations, bus terminals, tourist resorts and entertainment locales. 

Star-rated hotels and cheap lodgings have been fully booked for the long year-end holidays, starting from Christmas. 

Data from the Yogyakarta chapter of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association's (PHRI) shows 35 single-star to five-star hotels and 842 home stays and pensions provide the city with the capacity to put up 3,500 and 8,000 paying guests, respectively. 

"The hotels are ready to greet visitors, predominantly domestic tourists, for the New Year's celebrations," said PHRI chair Istidjab. 

Several hotels are advertising special menus for Christmas and New Year's and staging performances. Street festivals, fashion shows, live bands, dances and door prizes are all on offer. 

Istidjab said he was optimistic the holidays would help boost the local tourism industry. His association was sure the target of 7 million tourists this year could be achieved. 

Tourists to Yogyakarta so far have been tallied at 6.5 million before the final holiday spurt. 

To anticipate the surging number of passengers, state-run railway company PT Kereta Api has prepared an additional train, the Argo Lawu executive train to run between Surakarta and Jakarta. The train, with a seating capacity of 400 passengers, will run on four days, Dec. 28 and 29 and Jan. 3 and 4. 

"Ninety-five percent of tickets for the additional train are sold out and the queue is still long," the railways operational spokesperson Hartomo said Friday. 

Hartomo told The Jakarta Post Kereta Api would operate the additional trains because tickets for the 14 regular trains had sold out. 

The Adisucipto Airport in Yogyakarta also saw a surge in the number of passengers three days ahead of Christmas. It usually serves around 3,900 passengers, but the number had risen to 4,575 passengers during the same period, and is expected to further rise until early January next year. 

Most bus tickets to Yogyakarta are also sold out. Tickets for a number of executive-class buses plying the Jakarta-Yogya route have also been sold out since Dec. 22, and return tickets to Jakarta are expected to be sold out by early January.

Ministry: Tourism arrivals to rise 25 percent

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 12/19/2008 11:41 AM 

Almost certain to meet this year's revised downward target, the government remains boldly confident foreign tourist arrivals will rise 25 percent next year, betting partly on the results of higher promotional budgets, says a ministry official. 

Sapta Nirwandar, a director general at the Culture and Tourism Ministry said Thursday, the industry would continue to grow despite the global economic downturn and financial crisis due to loyal travelers who visited Indonesia to pursue their hobbies and for cultural reasons. 

"This is a crisis-proof industry," Sapta told a seminar on tourism. 

For 2009 the ministry forecast 8 million people would visit the country, 1 million more than the initial target, compared to a targeted 6.4 million for this year. 

This seems overly optimistic, since until the end of October, foreign tourist arrivals stood at 5.09 million. With monthly arrivals averaging 500,000, many have expressed doubts the full-year 2008 target can be achieved, even with help from the Visit Indonesia Year program. 

In 2007, 5.05 million tourists traveled to Indonesia. 

For next year, Sapta anticipated a decline in arrivals from the United States and European countries, but largely compensated for by an increase in visitors from South Korea, China and the Middle East. 

"We are going to promote more health and beauty tourism, also marine tourism and smaller islands," Sapta said. 

Hobbyists, such as surfers and divers, and the nature and culture oriented travelers would not take Indonesia off their agendas, he said. "Small islands and new destinations would be promoted more intensely." 

Promotion activities would be helped by a 10 percent increase in the promotional budget for 2009 to Rp 285 billion (around US$25.8 million). 

"We have more than 300 ethnic groups, and these rich cultures never fail to attract tourists," he said. 

Chairwoman of Indonesian Association of Hotels & Restaurant (PHRI) Yanti Sukamdani welcomed the plans for more intensive promotional activities. 

"The association is more than ready to welcome international tourists, because we now have a special agency to give certificates to tourism professionals." 

"The agency will be launched Friday," Yanti said. 

She brought a long wish list for the government though, from international airports to lower taxes on imported beverages. 

"We need more international airports. For example, one third of tourists coming to Bintan were from Singapore, one third from Japan and Korea, and one third from everywhere else including Russia. Why don't we build an (international) airport over there?" 

"We also need to give visas on arrival at more international gates, such as in Kupang and Merauke." Another wish was: "Cleaner toilets, especially in airports." 

The tourism industry is a key foreign exchange income earner for Indonesia. In 2007, it brought $5.345 billion into the country.

2009 also to be Visit Indonesia Year

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 11/28/2008 10:49 AM  

If you didn't travel in Indonesia this year, don't worry -- 2009 will also be the year to visit, with the government planning to extend the "successful" Visit Indonesia program. 

"At first many doubted the program's success, yet we have set a new record in our tourism history," Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik said Wednesday. 

That record is to have received 6.4 million foreign tourist arrivals, which is the country is on track to meet. 

According to an official report from the Central Statistics Agency, there were 4.3 million foreign tourist arrivals in the first nine months of the year. 

Although this number is more than 2 million short of the program's target, Jero said he was convinced the full-year target would be met, as the tourist arrivals usually increase in the last quarter of the year, to generate around US$6 billion in foreign exchange income. 

Both the number of tourists and the amount of income generated would be record highs, leading the government to anoint the program an "unprecedented success". 

It's worth noting, however, that these figures are based on revised targets set by the ministry less than a month ago. 

The original target for the number of foreign tourists this year was 7 million and the targeted revenue $6.7 billion. 

The ministry's general secretary Sapta Nurwanda said Friday that next year's target for arrivals would be increased to 7 million, although he said the office acknowledged the great challenge posed by the global financial turmoil. 

"Next year there will be greater challenges in tourism stemming from the global economic downturn and the upcoming election," he said, 

Indonesia will hold legislative elections in April and the presidential election in July. 

He said the global crisis had already taken its toll on the tourism sector in the form of canceled trips, although he said the number had not reached a level that could jeopardize this year's revised target. 

According to the World Tourism Organization, the growth in the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia may decline next year to 6 percent, from an estimated 12 percent this year. 

The Visit Indonesia Year concept was first introduced during the former president Soeharto era, and the first year was 1991. (dis)

Indonesia’s New Focus on Marine and MICE Tourism

Travel News Gazette, Ozgur Tore, 

Indonesia’s tourism industry remains confident, according to I.Gede Pitana, Director of International Promotion at the Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 

He told a ITB Asia press conference 23 October in Singapore: “The [global financial] crisis will probably affect our target of seven million international travellers this year. However, we should still be able to achieve a growth of over 20% with 6.5 to 6.7 million tourists.” 

Mr Pitana said that Indonesia had invested a lot in new infrastructure and these efforts were starting to pay off. He cited close to 11,500 classified hotels with over 255,000 rooms, 10 world-class convention centres each able to receive up to 5,000 delegates, and 450 first-class shopping centres, which make the country an attractive destination for Singaporeans, Chinese or Malaysians. 

The Indonesian government will extend its Visit Indonesia Year 2008 campaign into 2009. However, new promotions will be more centred on marine and MICE tourism. “We have a unique natural and historical heritage. We have over the years gained recognition from the scuba dive market for our exceptional coral reefs. We also have over 50 national parks and nine UNESCO listed-world heritage sites,” said Mr Pitana. 

The tourism director also said that Indonesia is not only Bali. He beseeched the tourism industry:  “Look beyond Bali please. And discover the amazing diversity of our land.”

RI Consulate in Sydney, Garuda to organize `Discover Indonesia`

Brisbane (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian consulate general in Sydney and national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia will jointly organize a tourism promotion event called "Discover Indonesia" for Australian tourism operators and mass media.

Intended to support the Visit Indonesia 2008 program, the promotional event would be held for two weeks starting late July 2008, Pratito Soeharyo, minister counselor at the consulate, said here Friday.

Representatives of 20 Australian travel bureaus and a number of newspaper and television reporters would be invited to take part in the program, he said.

They would be given the opportunity to visit and see some of Indonesia`s eco-tourism potentials outside Bali, especially on Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua islands.

Garuda would among other things fly them to the Bunaken marine park in North Sulawesi, the center for orangutan protection in Kalimantan, and Toba Lake in North Sumatra.

Most Australian tourists visiting Indonesia so far stay mainly in Bali.

For 2008, Indonesia had set a target of attracting seven million foreign tourists and earning around US$6.7 billion in foreign exchange from them.

A total of 5.5 million foreign tourists visited Indonesia last year. Topping the list of countries where the tourists came from were Singapore with 1.46 million tourists, Malaysia (941,202), Japan (593,784), Australia (313,881), South Korea (423,098), China (335,172), Europe (528,171), and the United States (154,846).

Bulgaria and Indonesia to Promote Each Other's Tourism

Novinite.com, 22 March 2008, Saturday

The visit of Indonesia's Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wachik in Bulgaria continued Saturday with discussions about how the two countries can promote the tourism contacts between one another.

Minister Wachik said he was going to do everything possible to develop the relations between Bulgaria and Indonesia in the fields of culture and tourism. He stated that the 220 million Indonesian traveled a lot, and that it would a huge success for Bulgaria if it managed to attract at least a part of them.

The Head of Bulgaria's State Agency for Tourism Aneliya Krushkova said in turn she was surprised by that fact that 2 800 Indonesian citizens visited Bulgaria in 2007, the press service of the Agency reported.

Indonesia is visited by 5 million tourists each year, which is just as many as Bulgaria, but Indonesia receives about USD 5 B from tourism, or 9% of its GDP, whereas Bulgaria gets only USD 2,3 B

Saturday evening Minister Wachik is going to present the "Visit Indonesia 2008" program in the National Archaeological Museum attempting to attract as many Bulgarian tour operators and tourist agents as possible. Aneliya Krushkova said this would be an act of promoting the Indonesian tourism in Bulgaria.

Travel agency Destinasi to go public in March

Novia D. Rulistia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After a month's delay due to the recent turmoil in domestic and global stock markets, travel-agent PT Destinasi Tirta Nusantara is slated to list its shares on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) on March 12.

"We decided to postpone the original listing schedule of Feb. 18, as we were waiting for the market to recover," Destinasi chief executive officer Satrianto Tirtawisata said.

The company's new schedule for the share offering is March 3-5.

The firm is expected to raise Rp 117 billion (US$12.5 million) in proceeds from selling 335 million shares at a price of between Rp 270 and Rp 350 per share.

Destinasi is among eight firms that will list their shares on the IDX during this year's first quarter.

According to the firm's president director, Dharma Tirtawisata, 50 percent of the proceeds would be used to open several new branches in locales in eastern Indonesia, as well as an office in Thailand.

Dharma said the remaining 25 percent of the proceeds would be used to strengthen the firm's working capital, with another 25 percent to be injected into subsidiaries.

The planned expansion, he added, was expected to help raise the firm's net profit to Rp 26 billion in 2008, up from an estimated Rp 10 billion in 2007.

Destinasi, with operations in Bali, Lombok, Yogyakarta and Jakarta, is an inbound tourism firm that brings foreign tourists to Indonesia, as well as provides them with accommodations during their stay.

Last year, the firm attracted more than 73,000 foreign tourists to Indonesia, with most of them coming from Europe.

In line with the government's ambitious Visit Indonesia Year 2008 tourist campaign Satrianto said the firm had targeted to bring in around 100,000 foreign visitors this year.

The government targets seven million foreign tourists and as much as $6.4 billion in foreign exchange income in 2008.

Last year, 5.51 million foreign tourists visited Indonesia, up by merely 13 percent from 4.87 million in 2006.

Last year's visits generated $5.3 billion in foreign exchange income, up from $4.4 billion in 2006.

Asean agrees to launch tourism joint promotion drive

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - All ASEAN member countries have expressed agreement to the Indonesian proposal to implement the ASEAN tourism joint promotion with a view to increasing the number of tourists visiting the region, a minister said.

Jero Wacik, Culture and Tourism Minister said here on Friday that the agreement was reached in the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) held in Bangkok, Thailand, from January 18 to 22, 2008.

"We have proposed in the forum that the ten ASEAN member countries would launch a joint promotion drive by publishing `Inflight Magazines` and making VCDs in cooperation with the Japan Center. This will be very helpful to Indonesia in promoting our tourism potentials to other countries," he said.

Jero Wacik made the remarks after attending the opening of a 2008 undersea digital photo competition in Jakarta in the company of Freddy Numberi, Maritime and Fisheries Minister.

ASEAN comprises Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam.

Minister Jero Wacik said further that the tourism joint promotion drive will strengthen the ASEAN spirit and support the regional grouping`s efforts to develop the region into a single tourism destination.

In the Bangkok meeting the ASEAN tourism ministers also proposed the use of an ASEAN tourism logogram on ASEAN airplanes and the formation of an ASEAN Promotion Chapter for Tourism in several cities in addition to Shanghai, Seoul and Sydney, and stepping up the ASEAN Cruise Promotion.

During the ATF meeting, tourism ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, engaged in the IMT-GT (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand- Growth Triangle) also agreed to raise the number of tourists visiting the three countries by newly-opened air routes such as the Banda Aceh (Indonesia) - Penang (Malaysia), Langkawi (Malaysia)-Phuket (Thailand), Medan/Padang (Indonesia) - Hat Yai (Thailand) routes.

The three ministers also agreed to boost the tourism business in the regions covered by the IMT-GT by holding tourism events along with a campaign on the start of the Visit IMT-GT 2008-2009.

It was also reported in the ATF meeting that the number of international tourists in ASEAN Plus Three (Japan, China, South Korea) in 2007 reached 99 million.

Apart from that, Jero Wacik also attended the first meeting of ASEAN-India tourism ministers.

Poor planning may hamper ambitious tourism program

Agustina Wayansari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Business players and local authorities are concerned that inadequate government planning for this year's international Visit Indonesia tourist campaign has left them without enough time to prepare.

President of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association for the Jakarta chapter, Krishnadi, said Monday ambitious targets for tourist arrivals weren't in line with official preparations.

"We don't have enough time to prepare and create marketing programs as we only received the announcement during the fourth week of November last year," he said on the sideline of a gathering discussing the business prospects of the campaign.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism recently launched the Visit Indonesia Year 2008 which targets seven million foreign visitors and foreign exchange revenue of some US$ 6.3 million.

According to Krishnadi, while hotel accommodations are in place, business players are behind schedule on marketing activities as there should ideally be least one year to communicate with the target market.

"Foreigners, unlike Indonesians, always plan ahead. It's not easy to convince them to come to Indonesia for holidays at the last minute," he said, adding that with China hosting the Olympic Games competition would be especially intense.

"People have known about the Olympics for a long time, and may have planed to go there this year."

Indra Surya Fadjar from Horas Tour travel agent in Medan, North Sumatra, agreed with Krishandi, blaming the lack of coordination between government agencies as the main obstacle to the success of the campaign.

"The (Tourism) ministry needs to work more with related institutions, such as the immigration office for better visa management and the transportation ministry on transportation infrastructure," Indra said.

Indra cited experiences with local authorities refusing to grant his company a permit to provide special transportation to tourists traveling in his province merely because there was no bylaw specifically on point.

Indra said illegal fees collected by force by local officials were common and had discouraged local companies from venturing into tourism.

Meanwhile, head of Lampung Tourism Board Taufik Hidayat said the central government was supposed to have better coordination with local agencies in all aspects of tourism promotion.

He claimed that local administrations were responsible only for contributing information for brochures.

Taufik said he wished to remain optimistic but didn't know what the ministry's big picture was for developing tourism and feared the Visit Indonesia might end up more a slogan than a successful campaign.

He said local tour companies weren't being consulted on ministry marketing plans.

Secretary at the ministry's marketing directorate, Hengky Hermantoro, said optimism was in order since tourism was up after the 2002 Bali bombing.

Hengky said last year the country recorded 5.5 million foreign visitors who spent some $5.3 million in aggregate.

"The figure was even higher than the best performance before the (Bali) bombing."

He also said that Indonesia was now a higher profile international tourism destination with many international events being held in the country last year, including the high profile climate change conference in Bali.

With more foreign tourists, Bali needs more guides

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

The Bali chapter of the Indonesian Tourist Guide Association (HPI) has resumed its guide certification program in response to an increase in the number of tourists from non-English-speaking countries, an official said.

Registration for the current round of certification will be open from Dec. 29 to Jan. 20. The HPI hopes to find more qualified guides who are able to speak Russian, Korean and Chinese.

"We are lacking guides who can speak Russian, Mandarin and Korean, while the number of tourists from these countries has increased," head of the Bali chapter of the HPI, Made Sukadana, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He said there were currently only around 700 guides who speak Mandarin, 50 for Russian and dozens for Korean.

"We need at least 300 more guides who speak Mandarin and 100 each for Russian and Korean," Sukadana said.

The number of Chinese tourists visiting Bali last year was 77,592 as of November, a 113.2 percent increase from the 36,394 in 2006. The number of Russian and Korean tourists reached 31,267 people and 107,425, as of November.

"The number of tourists from those countries is increasing by up to 30 percent each year," Sukadana said.

He said that between 2004 and 2006, the HPI did not certify any new guides because the association was focused on improving the skills of existing guides.

"There were around 7,000 licensed guides during that time and we were trying to improve their skills, because we do not want guides who are unqualified," he said.

In addition, according to I Ketut Warsa, one of the organizers for the guide certification registration, Bali's tourism sector at that time had yet to recover from the Bali bombings.

"This year we have seen quite a significant improvement (in tourist numbers), so we need to increase the number of certified guides to keep up with the tourists," he told the Post.

He said that as of Tuesday, at least 700 guides had signed up for certification, but only 564 met the requirements to take the test.

Sukadana said candidates needed high school diplomas, Bali identity cards, a health certificate, a letter issued by the police stating the holder has never been arrested and a recommendation from the tourism bureau.

He said candidates also had to pay Rp 1.7 million (US$180) to cover the test, which includes field trips.

"Aside from written test, we will also conduct trips to some tourism areas in Bali to test their knowledge of the areas," he said.

Jero Arik, 36, said she had to offer her services as an uncertified guide for Korean tourists for three years because the HPI was not offering certification.

"But since the number of guides who are able to speak Korean is limited, I always had a job," she said.

She expects to get her license this year, which will make her job easier.

"I was always worried about working as a guide without a license because I could have been arrested anytime," she said.

The HPI conducts raid regularly at various tourist destinations to catch uncertified guides.

Cooperation with industry players 'key to reaching tourism target'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In order to achieve a targeted seven million foreign tourists under this year's Visit Indonesia Year program, the government should intensify cooperations with players in the tourism industry and grab new potential markets, observers said.

Yanti Sukamdani, head of the Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI), said the government should not work alone in making Visit Indonesia Year a success, as there were still many obstacles to be tackled.

"A limited budget for instance, is still a problem and it will somehow affect the promotion efforts, especially abroad," she told The Jakarta Post Tuesday.

"But this can be tackled by improving cooperation with players in the tourism sector."

The government has allocated US$15 million to finance the overseas campaign of the visit Indonesia program, under which the country expects to lure at least seven million foreign tourists.

Meity Robot of the Indonesian Tourism Society said in addition to helping finance the campaign, cooperation with actors in the tourism industry would also help the government understand the tourists' preferences.

"The government should know tourism destination preferences so the campaign can effectively reach its set targets," Meity said.

The government said it expects the visit Indonesia program would at the very least attract six million tourists and should raise up to $6.4 billion in foreign exchange revenue.

Association of Tours and Travel head Ben Sukma told the Post the government's optimistic target of seven million was unlikely to be realized because markets had not been well analyzed.

"The government has to work very hard in analyzing the markets through exploring and packaging the uniqueness of programs in every destination, so that it can attract tourists with different characteristics from different regions," Ben said.

For 2007, the government targeted 5.5 million foreign tourists, lower than the original target of 6 million tourists.

From January to November last year, the Central Statistic Agency (BPS) revealed Wednesday 4.11 million foreign tourists have arrived through Indonesia's 15 main entry gates.

BPS said these figures were up by 13.67 percent, from 3.62 million during the same period of 2006.

Although foreign tourist arrivals in 2007 were lower than predicted, Yanti said the government could reach the minimum target this year if it made extra efforts.

Yanti said these efforts should include campaigning to seek new markets.

"Besides countries in Southeast Asia and Australia, the government, for example, should start campaigning in Middle Eastern countries, Russia and India," she said.

"To do this, the government should eagerly cooperate with the embassies and players in tourism in those countries."(ndr)

W Java declares formation of tourism board

Bandung, W Java (ANTARA News) - The West Java provincial administration here Tuesday declared the formation of a West Java Tourism Board in connection with the launching of Visit Indonesia Year 2008 by the central government.

"The board will be the spearhead of any central and provincial government initiative to develop West Java`s tourism sector. We will do it from now on," head of the West Java Tourism and Culture Office HI Budhiyana said.

The board would facilitate efforts to improve West Java`s performance in the tourism sector as well as serve as a think-tank on how the sector needs to be developed in the future, he said.

In conjunction with the launching of Visit-Indonesia Year 2008 at national level, West Java had also proclaimed a Visit West Java Year 2008 with the purpose of increasing the number of tourist arrivals in the province.

"The tourism sector saw significant growth in 2007. The year was the strategic start to raise the foreign tourist arrival target in 2008," he said.

He admitted so far the mix of tourists visiting West Java was still dominated by domestic tourists who accounted for as much 96 percent of the total number of tourist arrivals in West Java in 2007.

In 2008, the challenge and strategy in West Java`s tourism development efforts would be aimed at developing community-based tourism.

He said the tourism sector in West Java contributed some Rp19.4 trillion to the province`s revenues in 2007 while the target had been set at Rp22 trillion.

In 2007, the number of foreign tourists visiting West Java reached 350,000 compared to the target set at 500,000, he added.

He said efforts would be made to stimulate the souvenir industry in support of the West Java-Visit Year.

Visit Indonesia Year 2008 officially launched

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post) :The government officially launched Visit Indonesia Year 2008 on Wednesday, with the main aim of luring up to 7 million foreign tourists and booking US$6.4 billion in foreign exchange income.

To help reach the target, the government is setting aside $15 million for a domestic and international advertising blitz.

"The budget will be used to finance the promotion campaign, especially abroad," Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik told a media conference before the grand launch of the program, which will be the second for the country.

The government held its first Visit Indonesia program in 1991, which was not particularly successful, increasing the number of foreign tourists by merely 400,000 from the year earlier, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

BPS data show that in 1991, around 2.5 million foreign tourists visited the country, from 2.1 million in the previous year.

RI eyes $6.4b from tourism in 2008

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government said it hopes to bring in US$ 6.4 billion in foreign exchange from an estimated seven million foreign tourists expected next year.

The government has set these targets for its 2008 visit Indonesia campaign.

"We haven't reached our target yet for the year 2007, but the number of foreign visitors arriving in the first 10 months of this year was up, compared to last year's figures," Thamrin Bhiwana Bachri, director general for marketing at the Culture and Tourism Ministry told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

"Arrivals were increasing at around 14.4 percent from January to October this year, compared to the same period in 2006."

Thamrin said ASEAN countries, especially Malaysia and Singapore, had been the focus for Indonesia's tourism sector over the last 10 to 15 years.

He said these two countries remained Indonesia's major markets.

"Their proximity, the high amount of flights available and the similar customs and food are the main factors that stimulate the interest of people from these countries to visit Indonesia," he said.

But the government needed to develop tourist attractions in regions by improving facilities and access, Thamrin said.

"We have many other interesting places and cultures other than Bali," he said.

"But those places don't have good infrastructure or facilities able to accommodate tourist needs, like convenient hotels and resorts, clean public toilets, well-managed airports or easy access to tourist attractions."

Bali remains a favorite tourist destination, with foreign arrivals up 40 percent this year.

The "Visit Indonesia Year 2008" campaign, which would be launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Jan. 1, is set to stage 100 international-scale events and cultural festivals.

It has been timed to coincide with the "World Culture Forum Asia & Pacific" in New Delhi in January 2008.

Legislator Ade Daud Nasution from Crescent Star Party (PBB) is the owner of several hotels in Bali and Riau Islands and said the government must continue developing the Riau archipelago.

He said this was vital in order to win the tourism competition against Singapore and Malaysia and to attract tourists from China, the Middle East and Japan.

"We have to develop an integrated tourist resort on Bintan, Galang and Batam islands, which are located in a strategic position on the Malacca Straits," he told the Post.

"The government could invite foreign investors to take part in the integrated tourist resort project if it can not do this alone," Ade said.

The government said recently Indonesia's economic growth in the coming years could depend on the tourism sector if the Bintan Bay Treasure integrated resort was realized.

The resort is projected to compete with Singapore and Malaysia.

Ade said Malaysia's Landmarks Bhd. had confirmed its readiness to take part in the project in Bintan and many local businessmen had also shown an interest.

Hasto Kristiyanto from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the government would need to invest a serious sum if it wanted to make the Riau archipelago a viable tourist destination in Southeast Asia.

"Despite having a Muslim majority, Indonesia should not be a hypocrite," Hasto said.

"It should learn more from Malaysia and Singapore and see how they have developed their tourism industries," he said. (rff)

Govt launches tourism website

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA: The Culture and Tourism Ministry has launched a website to provide comprehensive information about the country's tourism sector.

The website contains information on tourism sites and special events and features an online hotel booking facility.

Titled www.my-indonesia.info, the website was officially launched Thursday and is run in cooperation with Indo.Com, a well-known Internet service provider.

Eka Ginting, an Indo.Com director, said the new website provides online bookings for around 200 hotels in Yogyakarta, Central Java, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara and Manado in North Sulawesi.

The government hopes the number of foreign tourists will increase to 7 million this year from about 6 million in 2006.(dic)