Padang, West Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Tourism industry in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, was preparing programs and activities to support the Visit Indonesia Year 2008 and to give the best services to tourists visiting the city.
“Travel agent, hotel, and restaurant businessmen as well as tourist resort managers are committed to supporting the Visit Indonesia Year 2008,” Head of the Bukittinggi tourism service Nasrul Pietra said here on Wednesday.
Bukittinggi planned to organize an International Self Defense Championship in May 2008, a Minangkabau traditional and cultural performance from July 6 to 15, a Pagaruyung Festival in July 2008, and a Dragon Boat Race in Padang, he said.
The city also offered discounts for hotel, restaurant and souvenir to tourists this year, he said.
Bukittinggi, about two hour drive from Minangkabau international airport, has 54 star-rated hotels with around 2,000 rooms.
The city is situated in highland, at around 800 meters above the sea level. It has interesting tourist objects such as ‘Jam Gadang’ (Big Clock built by the Dutch in 1926), a Japanese cave built by the Japanese during World War II, Ngarai Sianok (Sianok Canyon), and Taman Bundo Kanduang park. (*)
Source: ANTARA News
March 6th, 2008
The Jakarta Association of Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA) has set a target this year to draw more than 1.22 million foreign visitors to the capital.
“We hope more tourists will come to the city compared to last year,” said ASITA secretary, Hasiyanna “Yanna” Ashadi, on Tuesday.
She said the number of foreign tourist arrivals would depend on conditions in Jakarta, such as floods.
The figure has been quite stable in the past few years.
Last year Jakarta had 1.22 million foreign visitors and had the same number the year before. In 2005 there were 1.17 million visitors and in 2004 there were 1.07 million, according to the Jakarta Statistics Agency (BPS Jakarta).
Yanna said her association supported the city administration’s tourism campaign and its target for tourist arrivals.
“We just follow the target set by the city administration,” she said.
This year the Indonesian government’s Visit Indonesia 2008 campaign aims to attract 7 million foreign tourists to the country, a sharp increase from last year’s 5.5 million.
To promote Jakarta’s tourism destinations and draw more foreigners here, ASITA cooperates with the city administration and other organizations, such as hotels, travel agents and local and international airlines.
“We also cooperate with the Java Jazz organizers, a three-day jazz music festival, to promote the capital. We arrange packages for tourists who want to get around the city and enjoy the festival,” Yanna said.
She could not say, however, how many people were interested in the packages.
Java Jazz will be held from March 7 to 9 at the Jakarta Convention Center, featuring local and international jazz musicians.
Earlier this week, BPS announced the number of foreigners visiting the capital had decreased.
In January 2008, there were 106,470 foreign tourists arrivals in the city, down from 110,799 in December 2007.
The head of BPS Jakarta, Djamal, said their statistics were from the immigration office which calculated the number of foreign tourists visiting the capital through Tanjung Priok port and Halim Perdanakusumah and Soekarno-Hatta airports.
Djamal said that the number of foreign tourists depended on the capital’s facilities and services.
“If floods like those that hit Jakarta in early February happen again, it could affect the number of tourist arrivals. They will avoid Jakarta,” he said.
According to Yanna, the declining number of tourist arrivals in the past few months was not surprising because the early year is low season for tourism.
“January and February is usually the low season, while the peak season is usually in mid-year, which is also the holiday period,” she said.
She said foreign visitors came to Jakarta for different reasons in different seasons. (trw)
Source: The Jakarta Post
March 6th, 2008