Posts filed under 'World Tourism News'
JAKARTA, July 17 (Xinhua) — An international kite festival opened on Thursday in Muna District, Southeast Sulawesi Province of Indonesia, a spokesman said.
Five foreign countries, which participated in the festival, were Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and the Philippines. Antara news agency quoted La Kusa, the spokesman of Muna district administration, as saying on Thursday.
From Indonesia, the participants came from Jakarta, Central Java, Central Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, West Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi as host.
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/
July 18th, 2008
Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - FEALAC (Forum for East Asia and Latin America Cooperation) plays a significant role in promoting ecotourism internationally, an Indonesian tourism official said.
“The Forum which has 33 member countries including Indonesia, has a total population of 2.5 billion, which is huge potential in tourism if the peoples visit each others` countries,” Firmansyah Rahim, the Indonesian cultural and tourism ministry`s director general for tourism destination development, said in Sanur, Bali Province, on Thursday.
After officially opening the FEALAC Conference on Ecotourism, he told the press that ecotourism promotion was expected to help increase the number of tourists visiting FEALAC member countries.
Indonesia has developed ecotourism destinations in Bali, West Nusa Tenggara Province and other regions which have national parks, according to him.
Ecotourism was educational and would encourage local residents as well as visiting tourists to help protect the environment, he said.
FEALAC is holding a conference on ecotourism in Bali from July 17 to 18, 2008. The conference is being attended by around 200 representatives of 24 member countries of FEALAC.
The theme of the vonference is “Towards Sustainable Ecotourism Development in East Asia and Latin America”.
Among the objectives of the conference were to raise awareness among all tourism stakeholders about the importance of responsible and sustainable ecotourism development, to exchange experience and best practices in developing ecotourism, and to establish a FEALAC Ecotourism Network.
Establsihed in 2001, FEALAC has 33 member countries including Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Panama, Thailand, and Peru.
(*)
Source: Jawa Pos Online
July 18th, 2008
The annual scramble for world heritage status opens Wednesday in Quebec City, where 41 countries are seeking UNESCO designation for cultural or natural sites.
In the Middle East, applicants include Yemen for its Socotra Archipelago; Saudi Arabia for archaeological site al-Hijr; Iran for the Armenian monastic ensembles in its Azerbaijan province; and Israel for the triple-arch gate at Dan and the Bahai holy places in Haifa and western Galilee.
In Europe, other applicants for natural sites include: Bulgaria, for part of the Pirin National Park; France, for lagoons in the south-west Pacific island of New Caledonia; Iceland for the volcanic island of Surtsey; Italy for sunken volcanic towns west of Naples; and Russian for its Putorana plateau.
European aspirants for cultural designation include: Albania for the Ottoman settlements in Berat and Gjirokastra; Croatia for the Stari Grad Plain; Czech Republic for the spa at Luhacovice; France for fortifications built by 17th-century military engineer Marquis de Vauban; Germany for housing estates built in the Berlin Modern Style; Italy for Mantua and Sabbioneta; San Marino for its historic centre
and Mount Titano; Slovakia for wooden churches in the Carpathian Mountains; Spain for more Palaeolithic cave art in its northern region; Switzerland and Italy for the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula- Bernina region; Britain for the Antonine Wall of the Roman Empire; and Hungary and Slovakia in a joint application for designation of a
network of fortifications where the Danube and Vah rivers join in Komarno.
In Asia, China wants designation for Mount Sanqingshan National Park and for its earthen architecture, called fujian tulou, in its southern region; Kazakhstan for the steppe and lakes of its northern region; Mongolia for Hovsgol Lake; India for its Mountain Railways and the river island of Majuli; Indonesia for the cultural landscape of Bali province; Japan for the Buddhist cultural landscape of Hiraizumi; Kyrgyzstan for the sacred mountain of Sulaiman-Too; Malaysia for Melaka and George Town; Papua New Guinea for the Kuk early farming site; and the Pacific island of Vanuatu for chief Roi Mata’s domain.
In Africa, Kenya is applying for the sacred Mijikenda Kaya forests along the Indian Ocean coast, and Mauritius for the Le Morne cultural landscape.
In Latin America, Bolivia wants designation for the quarry of the Fabrica Nacional de Cementos; Mexico for its monarch butterfly reserve and the town of San Miguel; Argentina for the cultural landscape of Buenos Aires; Brazil for Sao Francisco square in the city of Sao Cristovao; Cuba for the urban scenery of Camaguey; and
Nicaragua for its Leon Cathedral.
Source; www.antara.co.id/en
July 7th, 2008
Beijing (ANTARA News) - Indonesia is striving to enhance ties with Mongolia as the two nations have not made the optimum use of their existing potentials in the interests of their peoples, an envoy said.
“We will look into the possibility of enhancing cooperation with Mongolia in many fields so the two countries can take the optimum advantage of their cooperation,” Indonesian Ambassador to China and Mongolia Sudrajat said on Sunday.
Sudrajat is expected to visit the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator in the near future to meet with local top officials to discuss enhanced cooperation between the two countries.
He said the visit would be of significance to Indonesia now that Mongolia had many potentials in the economic and tourism sectors the two nations could benefit from their enhanced relations.
The Indonesian Embassy in Beijing had so far explored the possibility of diplomatic and economic relations with Mongolia, he said.
He said the cooperation between the two countries in many fields had not reached an optimum level and Indonesia would strive to gradually enhance its cooperation with Mongolia as it did with other nations.
“We will try to explore various opportunities of cooperation between the two countries, such as in the tourism, economic and political fields,” he said.
He said he had long planned to visit Mongolia and the planned visit was not meant to intervene in Mongolia`s domestic affairs after the latter imposed a state of emergency for four days starting on July 1.
He believed the Mongolian government could settle the conflict engulfing the country on its own.
“I believe the local government will be able to control the security conditions in the country and settle the conflict on its own,” he said. (*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008
Source: ANTARA News
July 7th, 2008
Garuda Indonesia has released their electronic version of Bali on ANY budget brochure for easy access to the secrets of Bali and beyond.
Mr. Poerwoko Soeparyono, Garuda Indonesia’s General Manager Australia & Southwest Pacific said, “With so many Australians using computers to make their holidays plans, an electronic brochure is invaluable, and this is the e-brochure that defines travel to Bali. If you can’t find a hotel in here it hasn’t made the cut. Bali on ANY budget has been put together by discerning experts who visit Indonesia several times per year in order to refine this brochure and ensure the product is exactly as described.”
He said, “We’ve selected the best accommodation in each category for the Australian traveller.”
Consumers can be privy to insider local knowledge as, within the privacy of their own laptop; they sit back in their own time and armchair travel through this huge selection of mouth watering resorts.
Garuda Indonesia, has been flying to Australia for almost forty years, and offering holidays to Australians, via their Bali on ANY budget product, for over 24 years.
As the national carrier, Garuda Indonesia knows its country well, and at the same time understands what Australians want. This insider knowledge ensures that “Bali on ANY budget” is the ultimate guide to Bali and beyond.
Click on http://download.digitaldm.com/download/travel/BOAB_Aus08_1075.htm to access the e-brochure or visit
www.BalionANYbudget.com.au
Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/
July 4th, 2008
Luanda
Angola has been invited to attend an International Conference on Africa scheduled for 14-15 July in Djakarta, Indonesia, said in Luanda the itinerant ambassador of the south-eastern Asian country, Primo Alui Joelianto.
The diplomat said Wednesday in Luanda, during his 24-hour visit to Angola, that his trip was aimed at formally making the invitation to the Angolan Foreign Affairs Ministry, to participate in the event.
The event will focus on the “New Strategy of Indonesian Co-operation for Africa “, Primo Alui Joelianto told ANGOP at Luanda’s 04 de Fevereiro International Airport. Indonesia’s economic activities include agriculture, mining and industry.
Source: http://allafrica.com/
July 4th, 2008
JAKARTA, July 1 (Reuters) - The number of foreign tourists in Indonesia rose nearly 14 percent in May from a year ago, the statistics bureau said on Tuesday, helped by higher arrivals in the key resort island of Bali.
The tourism industry, which accounts for about 5 percent of gross domestic product, was hit by a string disasters in recent years including tsunamis, bomb attacks in Bali, its main tourist attraction, earthquakes, and outbreaks of bird flu.
However, tourist numbers have gone up thanks to an increasing number of visitors to the predominantly Hindu island of Bali which has recovered from a severe blow when Islamic militants launched suicide bomb attacks in 2002 and 2005. The number of foreign tourists in Indonesia rose to 508,955 in May from 447,000 a year ago. Tourist arrivals in Bali rose 23.72 percent to 167,342 from a year ago.
“There are a lot of positive things happening to us, one of them is the travel warning being lifted by the U.S.,” chairman of the Indonesian Hotel Association, Yanti Sukamdani, said.
“We expect to be able to attract more foreign arrivals in the peak season of June-September to meet the 7 million target. But we also acknowledge lack of flights will be one of the problems.”
The U.S. State Department lifted its travel warning for Indonesia in late May reflecting improved security, while Australia lowered travel warnings for two Indonesian provinces in late June.
The archipelago, which boasts tourist attractions ranging from rainforests to beaches, volcanoes and ancient temples, is aiming to attract 7 million foreign visitors this year.
Foreign tourist arrivals in Southeast Asia’s largest economy climbed to 5.51 million in 2007 from 4.87 million in 2006, but fell short of the government’s target of 6 million. (Reporting by Andreas Ismar; editing by Sugita Katyal)
Source: http://in.reuters.com/
July 2nd, 2008
By Ed Davies and Karen Lema Reuters
JAKARTA: Faced with looming energy crises in their developing economies, power-hungry countries like Indonesia and the Philippines are looking deep into the earth for solutions.
Both are in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area peppered with volcanoes and home to the world’s biggest reservoir of geothermal power.
“When I think of Indonesia and energy, I think geothermal,” said Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, during a speech this month to the brokerage house CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. “Indonesia has more than 500 volcanoes, of which 130 are active.”
“Indonesia could run its economy entirely on geothermal energy and has not come close to tapping the full potential,” he told the investment group.
That might be changing, though, as soaring oil prices, surging demand and creaking infrastructure in the power sector make it all the more urgent for Indonesia and the Philippines to find ways to exploit their geothermal reserves.
But unlocking the potential is proving difficult.
Geothermal projects involve drilling wells deep into the earth to tap steam or hot water than can power turbines. Not all of the challenges are terrestrial in nature. This is a capital-intensive process complicated by bureaucracy and other stumbling blocks.
The Indonesian Bedugul project, set among volcanoes on the Hindu enclave of Bali, aims to develop up to 175 megawatts of power, or roughly half of what the resort island needs. But the project is on hold because local residents fear it could damage a sacred area and affect water supplies from the nearby lakes.
Most of the power supply in Bali comes from the neighboring island, Java, via an undersea cable. Supporters say that the Bali project is essential to meet growing electricity demand in the resort island, which is at the heart of the Indonesian tourism industry.
“We hope that the project will run, not just because of the investors but for Bali’s future,” said Ni Made Widiasari of Bali Energy, the firm behind the project. She denied that the project would be damaging.
In the Philippines, which is the world’s second-biggest geothermal producer behind the United States, one of the main obstacles to developing the reserves is the high, pipe-corroding acidity associated with active volcanoes.
“There are many fields that are still acidic, meaning the dead volcanoes underlying them are not really dead,” said Paul Aquino, president of PNOC-Energy Development which operates nine steam fields with a capacity of 1,199 megawatts, or about 60 percent of the country’s geothermal capacity.
That would make it difficult for the Philippines to achieve its goal of raising geothermal capacity from an existing 1,931 megawatts to 3,131 by 2013, and overtaking the United States as top global geothermal producer, he added.
Geothermal power accounts for around 18 percent of the energy needs in the Philippines.
“We have already exploited those areas with the biggest geothermal resource,” Aquino said, adding that many of the most attractive untapped sites in the Philippines are located in natural parks or protected by the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act.
Catherine Maceda, spokeswoman for the Renewable Energy Coalition, a group promoting the use of alternative energy, also warned that the Philippines needed to push through a renewable energy bill to provide greater incentives and clarity.
While President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has earmarked the bill as urgent, political bickering is holding up its passage.
“Right now there is no predictability,” Maceda said.
Electricity networks in the Philippines and Indonesia, with a combined population of 316 million, are already under strain.
Philippine power demand is estimated to be growing at an average rate of 4.8 percent a year, while Indonesia has suffered power blackouts because of a razor-thin supply cushion when demand peaks.
Indonesia supplies just 850 megawatts of an estimated 27,000 megawatt potential from geothermal sources, or about 3 percent of its current power output.
While the government wants to focus on using more coal-powered stations to meet energy needs, Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro has said that power from geothermal could reach 9,500 megawatts by 2025.
Despite the setbacks and stalled projects, high energy prices are providing the spur for firms to look at geothermal again, and several are eager to expand their existing operations, or to bid for fresh projects in Indonesia under a new government framework.
The Indonesian energy firms Medco Energi Internasional and Star Energy, are looking at making new investments, while Chevron, the world’s largest private producer of geothermal energy, plans to double its geothermal business in Indonesia and the Philippines by 2020 despite the heavy capital outlays.
It takes about eight years for a geothermal plant to move from exploration to production. Aside from drilling and plant costs, there are often additional expenses like the need to build access roads in remote and mountainous areas.
Geothermal plants require high capital investment for exploration, drilling wells and plant installation compared to other alternatives. But operation and maintenance costs are relatively low.
Chevron is looking at further expansion of its existing fields in West Java and is considering 10 of 256 other sites identified by Indonesia as having geothermal potential.
“You have to spend all your capital up front to develop these fields, you know, put in the wells and power plants, but with current prices of oil, gas and coal, geothermal is becoming competitive” said Barry Andrews, president of geothermal power operations for Chevron.
Eligibility for carbon credits could make such investments more attractive, he said, as they might offset some of the hefty start-up costs.
The Chevron plant in Darajat, in West Java, has been registered with the United Nations as being eligible for 650,000 certified emissions credits per year.
Meanwhile, Indonesia is putting the finishing touches on new regulations for the geothermal sector, after many projects collapsed in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
“I think we’re virtually on the cusp of seeing all of that come together in the next year or so,” Andrews of Chevron said.
Brown, the environmentalist from the Earth Policy Institute, said that this followed a global trend in localizing energy policies as oil prices prod countries to find cost-effective alternatives.
“In Indonesia that means geothermal is going to loom large in the energy economy of the future, and that development could come very quickly once the leadership begins to see the potential,” Brown added.
Source: http://www.iht.com/articles
June 30th, 2008
AirAsia launches its direct daily flight to Makassar to the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia and the largest city on Sulawesi Island.
Makassar is the 14th Indonesian destination which AirAsia flies to and it is the first international airline to service the route. Currently AirAsia is the leading airline which connects Kuala Lumpur to most points in Indonesia than any other airlines with an outstanding 346 flights a week.
The Makassar – Kuala Lumpur route is expected to provide AirAsia greater access to a whole new traffic from Manado, Ambon, Maluku and other neighboring islands as Makassar is the hub in that region to other destinations in Indonesia. Thus the air connectivity between the gateway of Sulawesi to Kuala Lumpur, the gateway to Southeast Asia is a perfect match as both hubs are able to feed traffic to the cities, connect to other points serviced by AirAsia’s extensive routes and international destinations serviced by AirAsia’s long-haul affiliate, AirAsia X.
With this new air connectivity, the people of Makassar will also now have access to more low-cost alternatives to international routes and additional destinations in Indonesia and Kuala Lumpur in which AirAsia champions.
Thus Hasanuddin International Airport which is Makassar’s main gateway, will now connect to other international route which AirAsia flies to via Kuala Lumpur and to other domestic points in that region such as Bajarmasin, Kendari, Palu, Manado, Gorantalo, Ambon, Jayapura and so fourth.
Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of AirAsia Berhad said “We have always championed routes where no one else flies to and we are delighted to become the first international airline to service this route. We are launching this new service with direct daily flights and this proves our confidence in this sector. We are proud to service an underserved market and thrilled to bring Makassar closer to other parts of the region from Kuala Lumpur. This new service from Kuala Lumpur to Makassar will stimulate new local demand consisting of local travelers who will be flying to Malaysia be it for the purpose of health tourism, vacation or business trips. Prior to our service from Kuala Lumpur, guests will have to go Jakarta, Bali or Surabaya to the destination which will take them such long hours to reach there. Now with our new service, the loose translation of Ujung Pandang or ‘End of View’ is no longer applicable,”
© Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 30-Jun-08
Source: http://peanuts.aero
June 30th, 2008
Bogor, W Java, (ANTARA News) - The Culture and Tourism Ministry will concentrate on development of tourist sites in conservation areas which have not been developed maximally, a cabinet minister said.
Accordingly, Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik and Forestry Minister MS Kaban here Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the promotion of tourist sites in conservation areas.
“The conservation and the tourism (sectors) should be merged,” Wacik said after signing the MoU in West Java`s town of Bogor, some 60 kilometers south of Jakarta.
In such a way, he said, people could earn additional income from the tourism sector while consevation programs could continue to run at the same time.
The MoU also involved the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) which was tasked to study development of natural tourist sites without disrupting conservation programs.
In 2008, the Culture and Tourism Ministry set a target of drawing seven million foreign tourists to Indonesia and they were expected to spend US$6.7 billion in the country.
Meanwhile, Forestry Minister MS Kaban said Indonesia had a lot of national marine parks and forests but conservation areas in the country were not well-known and thus they should be developed to make people more aware of their existence.
“We now tend to be conservative in dealing with conservation areas and do not allow (people) to touch them,” Kaban said.
The Indonesian people should introduce the country`s conservation areas to the international community by considering the principles of tourism and conservation, he said.
Conservation areas where tourist sites are allowed to be developed are those called utilization zones, Kaban said, adding that every conservation area consisted of main zones and utilization zones among others.
In some countries, Kaban said, construction of villas was even allowed in such sensitive areas but the investment cost for the business would be high so that the business would be very exclusive.
“It is only certain investors with good environmental concepts who can enter conservation areas,” he said.
Indonesia has 20 national parks which can be developed into tourist sites, like the National Leuser Park, Kerinci Seblat Park and Mount Gede Pangrango, the minister said, adding that those areas could be offered to investors.
Director General for Forest Protection and Nature Conservation, Darori, said of 210 marine and forest panoramas in Indonesia, only about 25 percent were allowed to be developed.
He pointed out that uninteresting regulations to investors, inadequate promotion, facilities and infrastructures as well as negative impacts of the regional autonomy euphoria were among factors hampering development of tourist sites in conservation areas.(*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008
Source: ANTARA News
June 27th, 2008
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