The government will have to work hard to meet its Visit Indonesia 2008 target of seven million foreign arrivals.
Indonesia saw 5.51 million foreign tourist arrivals last year, up 13 percent from 4.87 million in 2006, the Central Statistics Agency said Friday.
Due primarily to higher spending per visit, the increasing number of tourist arrivals generated US$5.3 billion in foreign exchange income last year, up from $4.4 billion in 2006.
Of the country’s 15 main points of entry, Ngurah Rai airport in Bali recorded the highest number of arrivals in 2006, with 1.74 million visitors, up by 3.95 percent from 1.32 million the year before.
“The rising number of tourist arrivals, mainly through Ngurah Rai, indicates progress in Indonesia’s tourism sector”, the agency’s deputy chairman for distribution and service Ali Rosidi said in a press briefing.
Meanwhile, the Minangkabau entry point experienced the steepest drop in foreign arrivals; they were down 20.92 percent, primarily due to an earthquake, the agency said.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism recently launched the Visit Indonesia program which targets US$6.3 million in foreign exchange revenue in 2008.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, is still recovering from deadly terrorist attacks in the resort island of Bali in 2002 and 2005 and as well as similar incidents on a much smaller scale in Jakarta.
Foreign reporting on bird flu virus has also discouraged many foreign tourists from coming to Indonesia, despite the country’s numerous attractive tourist spots.
Lack of promotion also contributes to the sluggish growth. The government has said its budget is only $15 million for promoting tourism this year.
The agency said that in December the country’s total tourist arrivals reached 431,000, a mere 10.20 percent increase over the 390,800 arrivals recorded in the same period of 2006.
According to the agency, from November to December, the country recorded a 7.86 percent increase with 431,001 arrivals, as against 399,609 in the same period of 2006.
Foreign tourists spent about $107.70 per day, up by 7.19 percent from around $100.48 in 2006. But the rise is mostly driven by soaring inflation in the country’s consumer prices.
The average expenses per visit figure in 2007 was $970.98, higher than $913.09 in 2006, the agency said.
Also, foreign tourists aren’t staying as long, as indicated by an agency report showing average length of stay declined to 9.02 days last year from 9.09 days in 2006.
Analysts said a lack of transportation and recreational facilities discouraged tourists from staying longer.
Source: The Jakarta Post
February 4th, 2008
Aimee Dawis, Contributor, Jakarta
The Indonesian film industry is growing rapidly. According to the Department of Films and Censorship, 70 feature films were released in Indonesia in 2007, up from 50 the year before. In 2008, more than 100 feature films will be released.
Each year, there are 400-500 sinetron (television drama) titles produced for audiences across the nation. Although frequently slammed by critics as low-quality programming, sinetron has proven to be immensely popular in the Indonesian market, capturing a high audience share.
In late 2007, “Get Married” and “Quickie Express” captured the attention of Indonesian movie-goers. “Get Married” had more than 1 million viewers, and “Quickie Express”, starring Tora Sudiro and produced by Nia Dinata, looks like it is going to be a runaway success.
Multiplexes such as the Blitz Megaplex at Grand Indonesia, which daily draws an average of 11,000 movie-goers on weekends and 4,000 on weekdays, are willing to give local films a longer run, which have contributed to the films’ increasing popularity.
Based on my own observations and conversations with the rising stars and key players in the Indonesian film industry, I see tremendous potential for Indonesian culture industries to become a formidable force in southeast Asia.
Indonesia boasts over 13,500 islands and 300 ethnic groups. We have some of the most beautiful islands on earth (i.e. Bali), dense rainforests and intricate monuments such as Borobudur and Candi Prambanan.
Thus, we have limitless untold stories and a unique cultural perspective. Indonesia is also home to untapped creative talents. However, much more needs to be done before that potential may be realized.
While recent hits such as “Quickie Express” and Nia Dinata’s “Arisan” are unconventional films that tackle sensitive subjects such as male gigolos and gays, respectively, most of the films released are in the teenage romance or horror genres.
They reflect the wariness of movie and sinetron investors to invest outside the “safe” genres.
This puts a clamp on creativity and restraints on investment.
In The Jakarta Post’s Weekender magazine (November 2007 issue), Shanty Harmayn, the co-founder of the Jakarta International Film Festival and one of the most influential filmmakers in Indonesia, said the Indonesian film industry needed to produce good scriptwriters, skilled and well-trained filmmakers, more technicians and good infrastructure for laboratory, digital lab and sound-mixing facilities.
For Indonesian cinema to grow, we need to build infrastructure (for example, a movie industrial complex complete with indoor and outdoor studios), film festivals, a market, film schools and an industry incentive system.
Harmayn also said the Indonesian film industry had much to learn from other Asian countries with a thriving culture industry, especially South Korea.
As with the Korean movie industry, where the filmmakers and government are able to collaborate, a good government policy in Indonesia is needed to build our movie industry.
A ruling that protects homegrown films such as the one implemented in Korea, where cinemas are required to screen locally produced films for at least 21 days, would be a good start.
The Indonesian government and filmmakers should also learn from the synergy of image production with the promotion of their culture, industrial products and/or brands that the Koreans have built within their popular movies and series.
The fans of Korean popular culture (or K-Pop) in Indonesia admit their affinity for Korean language and everything made in Korea begins with Korean movies, music and TV series.
The president of a K-Pop fan club I interviewed said she would do whatever it took to master the Korean language so she would be able to obtain more firsthand information on K-Pop.
She also tries to incorporate as many Korean items in her life as possible, such as Samsung mobile phones and LG computers.
Another K-pop fan said he encountered the Korean pride in their products and media when he went for a job interview with Samsung in Seoul.
The ways in which Koreans conduct their business (with efficiency and cutting-edge strategy) show clearly in how big-name Korean companies such as Samsung and LG treat their employees and implement their marketing campaigns.
Although these companies may not be directly involved with Korean media, the Korean government’s commitment to support and market Korean media abroad have resulted in a subliminal “brand loyalty” for fans of Korean series and cinema which my interviewees have shown.
My research on Korean media and their impact on Indonesian society suggests there is an excellent opportunity for the Indonesian government to market a thriving and growing market (for Indonesian cinema and series) overseas.
If our media products are well-known outside of Indonesia (as it is, our sinetron is very well-received in Malaysia), fans of our media will automatically be more alert to the country of Indonesia and the many things it has to offer (tourism, handicrafts and other locally produced items, to name a few).
That priceless world-wide awareness of our culture and country is the magic that Indonesian filmmakers can most certainly create. It is government and economic support they now need to create the magic.
The writer teaches at the School of Social and Political Sciences and the School of Humanities at the University of Indonesia. She can be reached at canting@hotmail.com.
Source: The Jakarta Post
February 4th, 2008