INDONESIA: HARD-HIT TOURISM INDUSTRY FIGHTING BACK
June 25th, 2007
Jakarta/Rome - After being hit by a string of terrorist attacks, earthquakes, tsunamis, transport accidents and outbreaks of bird flu, Indonesia’s tourism sector is to get a boost as the government plans to intensify its efforts to promote the Southeast Asian country abroad. “The way to convince them [the tourists] is to give them more information and be more transparent about what happened,” Thamrin B. Bachri, Indonesia’s Culture and Tourism ministry’s marketing director told Adnkronos International (AKI).
“By giving them more information, I think they will understand that we have done something to protect them,” Bachri told AKI.
Ever since the 2002 Bali bombings, Indonesia’s five billion dollar tourism industry has been hit hard. Visitor numbers plunged even further after natural disasters like the 2004 tsunami and various earthquakes, incidents of avian flu and accidents in the country’s air and sea transportation, made headlines around the world.
In 2006, foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia dropped by 2.6 percent to 4.87 million from five million in 2005.
However things appear to be improving in 2007. In the first quarter, the number of foreign tourists rose by 14 percent over to the same period last year, to one million.
To ensure that this trend continues, the Indonesian government has plans to vigorously promote the country’s tourist destinations including using Indonesia’s foreign mission abroad and even opening new tourist promotion offices.
One such intiative is the “Festival Indonesia 2007″ organised in the northern Italian city of Milan on Friday. Besides being a showcase of Indonesian culture in the Italian financial and fashion capital, the event is also a chance for government and business representatives of Italy and Indonesia to meet and discuss greater investment and cooperation in the fields of culture and tourism.
The event held in Milan on Friday - which includes the best of traditional Indonesian music and dance as well as a fashion show by the “Prince of Batik” Indonesian designer Daud Wiryo Hadinagoro - is the third in a series of such presentations in Europe, coming after similar stops in the Norwegian capital, Oslo and Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.
Through these special events, the government is hoping to highlight other destinations in Indonesia that have not been affected by negatively.
“Our strategy is isolated marketing, where we try to isolate the areas impacted by a certain negative, for example a bomb or natural disaster, because still we have other areas to be promoted,” said Bachri emphasising the fact that there are over 17,000 islands in Indonesia - and not just the world-famous island of Bali - which provide a variety of attractions to be marketed.
“Secondly, we also continue to have a ’seeing is believing’ programme by inviting the press and media from various markets and bringing them to certain destinations in Indonesia ..so they will then tell the world that Indonesia is quite safe to be visited,” Bachri told AKI.
This year the Indonesian government has set aside 10 million dollars to market Indonesia as a tourist destination. However there are concerns that this is not enough.
“We need more funds to market our tourist destinations,” said Andri Haid, the director general for information and public diplomacy at the Indonesian foreign ministry, in an interview with AKI. “Compared with other countries, we spend less on promoting tourism,” said Hadi.
According to Bachri, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, says that to reach Indonesia’s target of six million visitors this year, as much as 60 million dollars is needed.
According to reports, a request has already been made for additional funds. The government is set to stage a “Visit Indonesia Year” in 2008.
Besides marketing Indonesia’s idyllic beaches, ancient monuments and diverse culture, the government is also very open to foreign direct investment in the tourism industry, part of its efforts to improve infrastructure and services.
Earlier this year, the government signed an agreement with a Dubai investor for the development of a resort on the island of Lombok at a cost of 600 million dollars. According to Bachri, there are plans in the pipeline to offer Indonesian islands for rent to local and foreign investors for tourism purposes.
Yet while a lot is being done to encourage foreign tourists to visit Indonesia, the government is also targeting its own citizens.
“Indonesia is a big country,” said Bachri. “Even without foreign tourists, we can still move between ourselves,” he said, adding that in this way the tourism is not only for economic needs for also serves as a “vehicle for unity” as Indonesians discover more about their own vast and varied country.
AKI - Rome,Italy
Entry Filed under: World Tourism News
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