Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik said Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) had predicted that about 7.5 million foreign tourists would visit Indonesia in 2007.
“PATA has predicted that Indonesia will be visited by 7.5 million foreign tourists in 2007,” the minister said in his written address to a tourism meeting here over the weekend.
The PATA prediction is higher than the government`s target of six million arrivals during the year.
With regard to the target, the minister said that his ministry had predicted four scenarios, namely pessimistic scenario with 5,21 million foreign tourist arrivals, moderate scenario with 5.61 million, optimistic with 6.16 million and accelerated one with 7.016 million arrivals.
The minister said Indonesia also expected to earn US$3.76 billion in foreign exchange if it achieved its pessimistic scenario, US$4.71 billion (moderate one), US$5.46 billion (optimistic) and US$5.82 billion (accelerated scenario).
Wacik said he believed that the arrival of foreign tourists in Indonesia would continue to increase by one million people annually up to 2001.
“Thus, we hope that at the end of 2008 about seven million foreign tourists are expected to arrive in Indonesia and about 10 million at the end of 2011,” the minister added. (*)
Source: ANTARA News
October 1st, 2007
State Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik said Bali is the timber that can underpin bridges of harmony worldwide.
He was speaking Thursday night at the fourth annual Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) from the festival’s magnificent annual launching pad, Ubud Palace.
“People from 18 countries come here smiling and with love. This is harmony. If we can export this across Indonesia, think how harmonious Indonesia would be.
“And if we could export this (harmony) around the world there would be no more wars, because people the world over love each other,” said Wacik in his opening address to the crowd.
He stressed his belief that people can build bridges person to person, ethnicity to ethnicity and country to country.
“The biggest bridge of all is the bridge between countries. Malaysia and Indonesia, Belgium and Indonesia, Australia and Indonesia. Every day we see this bridge being built in Ubud. When I am no longer a minister I want to come to this festival and write and read,” said Wacik to thunderous applause.
Patron of the UWRF, Tjokorda Raka Kerthyasa S. Sos of Ubud’s royal family spoke of the universal dream of world harmony, a dream that he believes is made real in some sense through the UWRF.
“The dream of Janet and her team has come true. I have a universal dream, we all search for harmony between human to human, human to nature and human to belief or God.
“What is harmony, I hope the UWRF can answer this question and how we can achieve this,” said Tjokorda Raka Kerthyasa as he wished the festival another successful year, that in some ways is also the end of an era.
Founder and director Janet De Neefe is stepping aside to take on the role of executive director for the festival.
“I will still be involved in the festival, working more on developing community relations,” said De Neefe who also plans to “take more time” for herself.
“I will be developing my own projects such as the recipe book I am working on. I suppose this is the end of an era with the festival manager and the sponsorship manager also stepping aside. It’s a bit like losing family,” said De Neefe of a festival she believes has matured since its inception in 2003.
“As the festival has matured, I feel so have I. I have come to understand more about what our role is and our identity. I feel the festival has a role to play in Bali addressing significant issues affecting Bali, Indonesia and the world. This is very much where the festival started after the Bali bombings in 2002.
“That and the central factor, which is to showcase Indonesian writers and give them a place on the world stage,” said De Neefe on the sidelines of the gala festival opening.
Security was tight for the event, with members of the elite antiterror squad on duty in the normally sleepy hillside village. The squad is backing up the community policing organization of pecalang and Ubud’s police force.
UWRF community development worker Kadek Purnami said the festival worked with local police and pecalang to ensure the event ran smoothly and traffic jams were kept to a minimum.
“Security is paramount because we do have some very high profile guests at the festival. Local police have the backup of Bali’s antiterror squad, who are staying in Ubud for the festival,” said Kadek. And while security may be tight, there is no sense of concern, with festival-goers clearly relaxed and ready to enjoy the event.
It is an event that Bali Tourism Board (BTB) Chairman Ngurah Wijaya says is set to become one of the most important in Bali in the years ahead.
“The festival is extremely important to Bali’s economy and we at the BTB believe the UWRF is going to become one of the most important festivals in Bali,” said Wijaya.
He points out Bali’s tourism has, this year, reached an all-time high with thousands of people arriving on the island daily, and many of these headed to Ubud for the festival.
He added that the festival’s value lies not only in its ability to generate revenue, but also in its ability to stimulate culture in Bali and Indonesia.
“Culture is not static. Culture is moving, is alive and it has to be fed. Bali’s culture can be dynamic and I feel the UWRF helps grow that dynamism by feeding the culture,”
The importance of the festival is not only being noticed in Bali, but also in the nation’s capital, said Wijaya, who expects to see some government funding for the festival in 2008 and 2009.
“The festival fits into the MICE (Meetings Incentive Conferences and Exhibitions) framework that highlights Bali and the festival certainly fits into that government initiative and I hope to see some funding available from the government in 2008 and 2009,” said Wijaya.
He points out that the government takes a hands-off approach during the formative years of community developments, such as the UWRF, because “these events need to come from the community themselves, otherwise they have no soul.”
And it is clear with a 30 percent jump in participant numbers for the festival that UWRF has got soul.
According to UWRF festival manager Finley Smith, the dramatic leap in numbers may be due to the overall rise in tourists again visiting Bali, but the festival’s growing reputation is also playing a role.
“This year we have the most participants ever. Numbers are up by 30 percent and I feel this is being driven by the fact tourism numbers in general have really picked up; I think that is partly responsible, partly that and partly our (UWRF) growing reputation.
“There are a lot of people coming from Jakarta and also internationally,” said Smith on the sidelines of the event’s Gala Opening last night last Wednesday.
Source: The Jakarta Post
October 1st, 2007