Archive for October, 2008
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on the people to continue developing three important sectors, tourism, creative economy, and manpower.
“In my view, we must constantly intensify the development of the three sectors, because we have so many superior edges and opportunities in them,” the president said here Tuesday when opening Trade Expo Indonesia 2008 at the Jakarta International Expo complex.
The president said that while some progress has been made, the three sectors still have the potential for further progress.
Therefore, he said, special regulations need to be issued on intensified development of the three sectors.
“Let`s eradicate the high cost economy, create good and effective regulations, policies, to build a sound economy,” he said.
The president also suggested close cooperation between the central government, local administrations and entrepreneurs.
“About creative economy which we have developed in the last few years, I guess we`re on the right track,” he said, adding that the economic sector should synergized with tourism.
On the occasion, the pesident also pointed to economic challenges in the current global financial crisis.
“We also need to strengthen our market, including competitiveness,” he said.
The 850 participants comprising small industries, state companies, and regional administration are taking part in the 2008 Trade Expo Indonesia from October 21 to 25, 2008. (*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008
Source: ANTARA News
October 22nd, 2008
The Indonesian government is optimistic that it will achieve its foreign tourist arrival target of six to seven million people, a senior tourism ministry official said.
“We are optimistic the target will be reached considering the enthusiasm of foreign tourists to spend new year`s eve overseas, and Indonesia has become one favorite destination,” Fatta Nirwana, director general of marketing at the Culture and Tourism Ministry, said at the opening of a Tourism Indonesia Mart and Expo (TIME) 2008 at the Celebes Convention Center, Makassar.
In August of this year, the government reported that the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia had reached four million, compared to 3.6 million during the same period in 2007.
Regarding the year-end moment, Nirwana said he was optimistic the country would attract two to three million more foreign tourists bringing the total number of foreign tourist arrivals for the whole year to seven million.
On the tourism potentials of Indonesia`s eastern regions (KTI), he said eastern Indonesia regions such as Tana Toraja in South Sulawesi were already widely known among foreign tourists.
“Tana Toraja has become a brand for South Sulawesi, and is a favorite destination in Indonesia, after Bali,” he said.
Meanwhile, head of the Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board, Pontjo Sutowo said, Makassar was chosen as a venue for TIME 2008 because of its developed infrastructure.
Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/
October 21st, 2008
Sungailiat, Bangka (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government has declared ten regions in the country top tourist destionations in a move to boost the national tourism industry.
“The policy to declare ten regions top tourist destinations will hopefully encourage each of the regions to improve their performance in developing their respective tourism potentials,” Wibowo, a deputy drector general at the Culture and Tourism Ministry, said here at the weekend.
The ten regions are North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, West Sumatra, North Sumatra, Riau Islands, South Sumatra, East Kalimantan and West Irian Jaya, he said.
“Every year we make an evaluation of the regions to be declared top tourist destinations by taking into account various aspects, namely natural potentials, infrastructure facility and the local people`s way of thinking,” he said.
He said Indonesia had 33 tourist destination areas stretching from the country`s western-most province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam to the country`s eastern-most province of Papua.
“Of the total, only 16 tourist destinations are able to attract 90 percent of local and foreign tourists, including the ten top tourist destinations,” he said.
The 16 tourist destinations are Bandung, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Batam, Bali, Toba, Karakatau, Tana Toraja, Lombok, Semarang, Java, West Sumatra, Manado, Sangalaki, Komodo and Kupang, he said.
“The figure suggests that there is still a gap among tourist destinations. That`s why there need to be directives and policies to develop the tourist destinations in a concrete way,” he said.
(*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008
Source: ANTARA News
October 20th, 2008
By Mohd Nasir Yusoff
YOGYAKARTA, Oct 18 (Bernama) — Malaysia, through the spirit of a friendly neighbour, is assisting Malaysia to achieve the targeted seven million tourist arrivals during Visit Indonesia Year 2008.
Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Datuk Zainal Abidin Mohamed Zain said this was proven with the projected arrival of 1.7 million Malaysian tourists in the republic, which has become a popular destination in Asean.
“We do not have the exact figure but it is about the same number of Indonesian tourists who visited Malaysia,” he told reporters at the launch of a Malaysian food and cultural fest here Friday.
He said direct flights to this district by Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Air Asia, up to 10 times a week from Kuala Lumpur, had increased the foreign tourist arrivals by 200 per cent, as recorded by the Yogyakarta tourism office.
MAS started its direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Adisujipto Airport here on Jan 30 and Air Asia on Feb 1.
Zainal Abidin said the pressures of the current economic crisis did not prohibit the people from visiting places.
“The crisis is stressing people out. They need to relax to relieve themselves of the stress.
“No matter what the reason for the visit, the important thing is the co-operation between Malaysia and Indonesia to help each other in achieving the target of tourist arrivals to their respective countries, including the 22 million targeted by Malaysia this year,” he said.
The food and cultural festival is jointly organised by the Melia Purosani Hotel in collaboration with Melia Hotel Kuala Lumpur and is endorsed by Tourism Malaysia and the Yogyakarta Tourism Department.
It will be on until Oct 31.
– BERNAMA
Source: http://www.bernama.com.my/
October 20th, 2008
In a hurriedly organised press conference at October 16 at the Celebes Convention Centre, Makassar, South Sulawesi, it was announced that the next Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME) in 2009 or “Pasarwisata Indonesia” will be held on the island of Lombok, which is not far away from the better-known tourist destination of Bali.
The Chairman of Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board (ITPB), Mr. Pontjo Sutowo, had already assured this year’s delegates at the opening ceremony in Makassar that eversince its first conduct of TIME in 1994 at Jakarta, TIME has been held to project the positive image of Indonesia and promote the Indonesian tourism industry in the international market.
Staging its 16th year of conduct in 2009 at Mataram, Lombok, TIME will definitely continue this tradition to speed up the development of the Indonesian tourism industry accordingly. As Makassar in Sulawesi this year, Lombok will offer visiting delegates a sound infrastructure
and easy access via its new international airport. A post-tour is already planned to explore the nearby island of Sumbawa.
During a press conference on October 15, Chairperson of TIME2008 Steering Committee, Mrs. Meity Robot, said that TIME2008 is attended by 104 buyers from 21 countries, 108 sellers from 16 provinces of Indonesia occupying 86 booths, and 15 international travel writers from 9 countries. The event features mostly marine tourism products as well as new emerging MICE facilities in Indonesia.
Appointment sessions are on October 16-17 and on the exhibitor list are companies, such as ACCOR Hotels & Resorts, Garuda Indonesia, Holiday Villa Bali, Makassar Hotel Network, Patra Jasa Jakarta, Santika Indonesia Hotels & Resorts, Taman Simalem Resort in North Sumatra as well as National Tourism Organisations (NTOs) of North Sumatra, West Sumatra, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan among others from Central Java, Bali and far away Papua.
It was up to Mr. Sapta Nirwandar, Director-General of Marketing from the Ministry of Culture & Tourism in Indonesia, to host a luncheon on October 15 for invited guests at the Celebes Convention Centre, while on October 16 the Governor of South Sulawesi, Dr. H. Syahrul Yasin Limpo, hosted a dinner reception at his residence in Makassar.
TIME2008 will conclude on a festive note with another dinner hosted by the Major of Makassar, Mr. Ilham Siradjudin, at his residence on October 17.
Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com
October 17th, 2008
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar
Domestic tourism players taking part in the 2008 Tourism Mart and Expo (TIME) being held in Makassar expressed disappointment over the event’s failure to attract more foreign buyers.
The organizer of the event, held from Tuesday through Friday at the Celebes Convention Center, has set a sales target of 10 higher than 2006’s mart, also held in Makassar.
Only a small number of buyers attended the event, with many stalls unoccupied and leading domestic sellers to express their disappointment with the event.
The mart, first held in 1994, has this year attracted participants from the airline, hotel, resort, restaurant, travel and spa sectors, as well as cultural and tourism agencies from both provincial and regional levels.
The event organizer claims that in addition to 108 sellers from 16 provinces, 104 buyers from 21 countries, including Australia, Hong Kong, Hungary, India Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, the United States and Vietnam, are taking part in this year’s event.
Meity Robot, chairwoman of the 2008 TIME steering committee, said Wednesday organizers were targeting a 10 percent increase in transactions from the 2006 figure of US$15 million.
The event was also attended by 15 journalists and tourism writers from nine countries.
Most sellers said they were afraid of being unable to meet the sales target, with a very small number of buyers in attendance.
Anita Verhoeven, managing director of Sunda Trails, said she was disappointed with this year’s TIME.
“I am so disappointed to find only a small number of buyers coming to the event,” she said.
“The number is much smaller than in the 2006 TIME. I’m afraid we may fail to meet the target.”
In addition to the lack of buyers, Anita also complained about the supporting facilities and venue that she claimed differed from information given by the organizers.
Gerit B. Polli, sales and marketing manager of Absolutely Leisure from Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, expressed similar sentiments.
“I had an appointment with some 60 buyers and many of them made a deal on the spot,” Gerit said.
“But now I doubt I’ll reach the target. I’ll be lucky if I can seal even half the number of deals as last year.”
First-time seller Andi Tjipto Hardianto, director of the TX travel agency in Central Java, said he had expected more from the event.
“I hope I can promote Central Java’s tourist destinations to as many buyers as possible during this event,” he said.
Sapta Nirwandar, the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s director general of marketing, said he hoped the 2008 TIME would help Indonesia reach its target of 7 million foreign tourists this year. Four million have visited the country as of August.
South Sulawesi Deputy Governor Agus Arifin Nu’mang said he expected the province would benefit by hosting the travel mart, with various tourist attractions in the province easily accessible to buyers.
Agus added the event could boost tourism in eastern Indonesia, already world-class tourism destination.
Source: The Jakarta Post
October 17th, 2008
Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME) is held in Makassar, Southern Sulawesi, for the second time after 2006. During October 14-17, 2008 international buyers from all over the world meet local sellers of tourism products from many islands and provinces in Indonesia at the newly built Celebes Convention Centre.
Makassar is a fascinating new tourist destination on the island of Sulawsi and is served by eight domestic airlines from the capital Jakarta. From Makassar, domestic flights expand to all eastern parts of Indonesia. Also, for international flights, Makassar is nowadays connected with Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur by AirAsia on a daily basis.
Toraja Land is up till now the preferred tourist attraction to visit in South Sulawesi with an average of 65% of tourists from overseas. By taking this monumentum, it was announced during the opening press conference on October 15 by Mr. Ana Saing, Head of South Sulawesi Culture & Tourism Office, that in the context of “Visit Indonesia Year 2008″ there will be the launching of “Lovely December in Toraja Land” offering a 50% discount on all tourism packages.
This activity is assigned to push tourism development of South Sulawesi higher and to make South Sulawesi as the “centre point” of Indonesia through tourism.
In a pre-show excursion tour on October 14, delegates were driven to the impressive Fort Rotterdam in Makassar and to the scenic Bantimurung Waterfall some 60km away.
Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/
October 16th, 2008
Makassar (ANTARA News) - The government is optimistic that its foreign tourist arrival target of six million - seven million this year will be achieved, a senior tourism ministry official said.
“We are optimistic the target will be reached considering the enthusiasm of foreign tourists to spend new year`s eve overseas, and Indonesia has become one favorite destination,” Fatta Nirwana, d director general of marketing at the Culture and Tourism Ministry, said at the opening of a Tourism Indonesia Mart and Expo (TIME) 2008 at the Celebes Convention Center here Wednesday.
As per August 2008, the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia had reached four million, compared to 3.6 million during the same period in 2007.
Regarding the year-end moment, he said he was optimistic the country would attract two to three million more foreign tourists bringing the total number of foreign tourist arrivals for the whole year to seven million.
On the tourism potentials of Indonesia`s eastern regions (KTI), he said eastern Indonesia regions such as Tana Toraja in South Sulawesi were already widely known among foreign tourists.
“Tana Toraja has become a brand for South Sulawesi, and is a favorite destination in Indonesia, after Bali,” he said.
Meanwhile, head of the Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board, Pontjo Sutowo said, Makassar was chosen as venue for TIME 2008 because of its fast development of infrastructure.
The same event in 2006 was also held in the city.
Makassar as a gate to enter KTI has an international airport which serve 23 flights per day, including direct flight from Kuala Lumpur with Air Asia.
As many as 104 buyers from 21 countries and 108 sellers from 16 provinces in Indonesia has confirmed to take part in the event.
“But according to our latest data, there are 80 buyers and 95 sellers,” head of the Culture and Tourism Office, Ama Saing said. (*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008
Source: ANTARA News
October 16th, 2008
The mystical archipelago of Indonesia lies in the Indian Ocean between Asia and Australia and is made up of thousands of beautiful islands.
(live-PR.com) - Leeds, UK, October 14, 2008 — If you’re looking for a more rewarding Indonesian experience then consider a volunteer vacation in Indonesia with i-to-i. Volunteer opportunities include working with disabled people, teaching English and helping out at an orphanage.
The mystical archipelago of Indonesia lies in the Indian Ocean between Asia and Australia and is made up of thousands of beautiful islands. With stunning natural beauty, ancient ruins aplenty and a culture unlike anything else you’ll find on the planet, travel in Indonesia has much to offer the independent traveler. Sights such as the Kelimutu volcano, the Lore Lindu National Park and peerless golden beaches of Bali will ensure that you will never be disappointed when you travel Indonesia.
Options for Volunteer Vacations in Indonesia with i-to-i:
Work with orphans and disabled People in Bali
Working between two worthwhile projects, volunteers will combine working in an Orphanage with helping disabled people in and around Ubud. Volunteer vacationers will work with the WINS program whose primary goal is to give the children of Bali the opportunity to obtain an education and to break the cycle of poverty.
WINS working closely together with Senang Hati a center for people with disabilities, This project started in 2002 when Ibu Putu, bound to a wheelchair herself, took disabled people in to her house to teach them life-skills and to improve their self-esteem. With the help of a benefactor, it was possible to hire housing where residents can help each other and use their creativity to produce paintings, ceramics and other art, which is sold in their gallery to fund the project. There are now 34 people living in the house and 150 members of the project.
This volunteer vacation in Indonesia costs $1050 for 2 weeks, accommodation and meals provided.
Surf and Teach English in Bali
Although Bali has a booming tourist industry, many families do not receive any benefits from it and many struggle month by month to meet the basic needs of their family. The 2002 bombing in Bali worsened this economic situation, and as a result there are now hundreds of children and adults not benefiting from the education they deserve. By volunteering as an English teacher travelers will be helping to enhance the lives of Balinese children and adults through the provision of education. You will be opening up more opportunities to them - particularly as tourism is an important industry.
This project is based in Canggu, with homestay or guesthouse accommodation within easy reach by foot (10 - 15 minutes walk) or bicycle (available for hire). After three surf lessons most volunteers will be able to surf at a beach near the homestay or guesthouse or there are many surf-spots within 1 - 1.5hour drive of the homestay and extra lessons or escorted trips to different beaches can be easily arranged. The homestay is in a quiet area, with a small shop and local restaurant nearby.
The surf and teach English volunteer vacation in Indonesia costs $1650 and lasts for 3 weeks.
To see the wide range of volunteer vacations in Indonesia now offered by i-to-i please visit: www.i-to-i.com/indonesia or call 800-985-4864 for more information.
Since 1994, i-to-i, has been the award-winning leader in volunteer vacations, TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) training and job placement abroad. Each year, i-to-i sends approximately 5,000 volunteers to 500 projects in 35 countries and helps 15,000 people gain the certification necessary to teach English overseas. i-to-i volunteers contributed approximately one million hours of service last year.
i-to-i offers volunteer vacations in countries such as: Ecuador, Brazil, Uganda, Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar, Zambia, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Honduras and Vietnam.
For more information call 800-985-4864 or visit www.i-to-i.com , for media inquiries please contact Alexia Nestora, alexia@lassocommunications.com
Press Release Submission By PressReleasePoint(www.pressreleasepoint.com/)
Contact:
Alexia Nestora
i-to-i
261 Low Lane
Leeds, UK LS18 5NY
800-985-4864
alexia@lassocommunications.com
www.i-to-i.com
Press Information:
i-to-i
261 Low Lane
Leeds, UK LS18 5NY
Contact Person:
Alexia Nestora
Phone: 800-985-4864
eMail: eMail
Web: http://www.i-to-i.com
Source: http://www.live-pr.com/en
October 15th, 2008
Makassar (ANTARA News) - Tourism and Culture Minister Jero Wacik appealed to students here on Monday to support tourism by helping create a conducive situation and erase their bad image as disturbers of public security through their street demonstrations.
“Security is one of the main conditions for promoting tourism and therefore students must be able to help create a conducive atmosphere,” he said before around 500 students of the Tourism Academy (Akpar) in Tanjung Bunga, Makassar.
He said he hoped Akpar students could become pioneers and set an example for other students in supporing the creation of a favorable atmnosphere without necessarily erasing their critical identity.
After giving his views on promoting tourism in the country, the minister visited the Bantimurung natural tourism resort in the district of Maros, around 35 kilomters form Makassar, South Sulawesi`s provincial capital.
The Bantimurung tourism resort is one of the tourism destinations to be visited by buyers and sellers attending a Tourism Indonesia Mart and Expo (TIME) 2008 from October 14-17.
Regarding the event, who was the second to be held in Makasar the minister called on the organizing committee and the local government to seriously make the preparations for it.
The head of the local tourism service, Ama Saing, said some 80 buyers and 95 sellers had confirmed their participation in the TIME 2008.
(*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008
Source: ANTARA News
October 14th, 2008
Next Posts
Previous Posts