Indonesia and World Tourism News

Mekarsari fruit park ready for Idul Fitri crowd

Mekarsari tourism park has arranged a series of holiday programs to charm the Idul Fitri crowd, including Middle East-themed activities to suit the Muslim holiday, park representatives have said.

In addition to dancing and music, a kafilah (caravan) carnival will be on display, with the park maintaining its tradition of showcasing traditional marawis music (an ensemble of percussion instruments and lutes), rampak bedug drumming music and kendang waroja, a traditional dance from West Java.

“We want to have the Middle East theme, but we also want to preserve local culture. Kendang waroja, for example, is nearly extinct,” Indradewi Triratna, the park’s marketing manager, said Friday.

Mekarsari will also use a crowd-gathering strategy to fill the park during the holiday weekend: A performance of local musicians, including The Changcuters and d’Masiv — ex-Indonesian Idol finalists — as well as dangdut singer Ira Swara, Indradewi said.

“When we hold events on peak season weekends, we can see up to 25,000 people a day. That number should be even higher this coming holiday,” she said.

The park will be open every day from Oct. 1 to 12, with more than 300,000 visitors expected during those two weeks, up from 250,000 last year.

During peak season week days, the park receives around 5,000 visitors, compared to 1,000 during low season.

“We’re confident because we finished our lake, which will attract more visitors. Guests will be able to canoe along the man-made canal, paddle boat or ride in tubes,” Indradewi explained.

Aside from the holiday activities, visitors still can enjoy the park’s core attractions — its collection of 1,437 fruit plants and planting courses.

“We arrange the trees so as to produce fruit at different times of the year. Right now, our 15 species of salak (snake fruit) are ripening,” said Indradewi, who is also an agroscientist.

Some of the salak species, including the Affenis salak from the forests of Kalimantan, are rarely found in markets.

Mekarsari park was created by the late former first lady Tien Soeharto in 1995 as a fruit park and has been managed by PT Mekar Unggul Sari, one of the foundations created by the Soeharto family. It has undergone major renovations in recent years, including a water park, camping park and treehouses. (mri)

Source: The Jakarta Post

Add comment September 29th, 2008

Indonesia aims to open up east with new airport

By Aloysius Bhui

MAKASSAR, Indonesia, Sept 26 (Reuters) - A new airport in the capital of cocoa-and-coffee-producing South Sulawesi province officially opened on Friday, paving the way for an increase in tourism and trade in Indonesia’s eastern islands.

Indonesia’s government has said it needs to spend billions of dollars modernising and building new infrastructure, including roads, ports, power plants and airports in order to increase economic growth.
The Sultan Hasanuddin airport in Makassar, which bears a faint resemblance to the Norman Foster-designed Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong, can handle up to 7 million visitors a year, or twice the expected number for 2007, and cost about 1.3 trillion rupiah ($139 million).

With the opening of a longer runway by the end of next year, bigger aircraft will be able to land, paving the way for more international flights.

“The seven million passengers target can be achieved next year,” said Akhmad Munir, spokesman for PT Angkasa Pura I, the state firm which operates 13 airports in Indonesia including Sultan Hasanuddin.

That will make it Indonesia’s third-largest airport, after Jakarta’s Soekarna-Hatta and Bali’s Ngurah Rai, based on the number of visitors, he said.

“This airport is the most luxurious one in the eastern part of Indonesia. Hopefully, the airport can stimulate other sectors to grow,” said Eddy Amiruddin, the airport’s air traffic director.

Visitors to the new airport, which was inaugurated on Friday by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said they were impressed by its modern design and size, as the new, 51,000-square-metre terminal is nearly four times the size of the old one.

“I think this is the best airport I have ever seen in Indonesia,” said an Indian-born manager from a cocoa-exporter in Makassar.

Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd (AIRA.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is currently the only airline offering international flights to Makassar, from Kuala Lumpur.

The airport still uses the old 2,600-metre (8,530 ft) runaway as the new 3,100-metre runaway is still under construction. (Reporting by Aloysius Bhui; Editing by Sara Webb) (aloysius.bhui@thomsonreuters.com; +6221-384 6364 ext 913) ($1=9375 Rupiah)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/

Add comment September 29th, 2008