Posts filed under 'World Tourism News'
If you didn’t travel in Indonesia this year, don’t worry — 2009 will also be the year to visit, with the government planning to extend the “successful” Visit Indonesia program.
“At first many doubted the program’s success, yet we have set a new record in our tourism history,” Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik said Wednesday.
That record is to have received 6.4 million foreign tourist arrivals, which is the country is on track to meet.
According to an official report from the Central Statistics Agency, there were 4.3 million foreign tourist arrivals in the first nine months of the year.
Although this number is more than 2 million short of the program’s target, Jero said he was convinced the full-year target would be met, as the tourist arrivals usually increase in the last quarter of the year, to generate around US$6 billion in foreign exchange income.
Both the number of tourists and the amount of income generated would be record highs, leading the government to anoint the program an “unprecedented success”.
It’s worth noting, however, that these figures are based on revised targets set by the ministry less than a month ago.
The original target for the number of foreign tourists this year was 7 million and the targeted revenue $6.7 billion.
The ministry’s general secretary Sapta Nurwanda said Friday that next year’s target for arrivals would be increased to 7 million, although he said the office acknowledged the great challenge posed by the global financial turmoil.
“Next year there will be greater challenges in tourism stemming from the global economic downturn and the upcoming election,” he said,
Indonesia will hold legislative elections in April and the presidential election in July.
He said the global crisis had already taken its toll on the tourism sector in the form of canceled trips, although he said the number had not reached a level that could jeopardize this year’s revised target.
According to the World Tourism Organization, the growth in the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia may decline next year to 6 percent, from an estimated 12 percent this year.
The Visit Indonesia Year concept was first introduced during the former president Soeharto era, and the first year was 1991. (dis)
Source: The Jakarta Post
November 28th, 2008
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has projected the number of foreign tourists to Indonesia in 2009 would increase by 6.2 percent, or 6.7 million.
The statement was made by the Ministry`s marketing director general Sapta Nirwandar when disclosing the result of the 2009 Tourism Marketing Working Meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday.
“Three different targets of number of foreign tourists to Indonesia in 2009 had been set. The first is an optimistic target of a growth of 6.2 percent of the 2008 figure, the second is a moderate target with a 4 percent growth, and the third is a pessimistic target of the same number of this year`s foreign tourists,” Sapta said.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik on Wednesday predicted the number of this year`s foreign tourists at 6.4 million with 6.2 billion US dollars in foreign exchange revenue which was also predicted by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), namely 6.3 - 6.4 million.
Sapta said while the the United Nations World Tourism Organization estimated the growth of tourism in the Asia Pacific region would decline by 4.3 percent, in view of the impact of the global financial crisis, but it was hoped Indonesia would not be so seriously affected by the crisis. (*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008
Source: ANTARA News
November 28th, 2008
Suherdjoko, Semarang, Central Java
Masakazu Ito of the Japan National team clocked 5 hours, 30 minutes and 34 seconds to win the fourth and longest stage — 221 kilometers — in the Speedy Tour d’Indonesia, which was marred by a series of accidents Wednesday.
Indonesia’s cyclist Samai of the Dodol Picnic Garut team and Malaysia’s Mohd. Nor Rizuan Zainal trailed in the second and third positions, respectively, only four seconds back from the stage leader.
However, the yellow jersey stayed tightly in the grip of third-stage winner Hossain Jahanbanian from the Tabriz Petrochemical team of Iran, who sits atop the overall standings with a 22-second lead over both Ito and Iranian compatriot Amir Zargari.
Jahanbanian became the first rider in the contest to win back-to-back yellow jerseys following his superb showing in the Cirebon-Purwokerto stage Tuesday. Jahanbanian snatched the jersey from second-stage leader Brad Hall of Australia. The first-stage winner was Artemy Timofee of Russia.
“I believe my team has good riders. We hope we can keep this yellow jersey until the tour end,” he said, as quoted by Antara news agency.
In the local cyclist category, Samai came in first, followed by Abdullah Fatahilah from Bintang Kranggan Cycling Club of Jakarta in second place and Matnur from Kutai Kartanegara Cycling Club in third.
“I was lucky to reach the finish line, let alone to come in second,” Fatahilah told reporters after the race.
Fatahilah’s bicycle broke down and he injured his right leg, right arm and hip after losing control of his bicycle in the last-gasp sprint to the finish line.
Heavy rains made the road surface slippery and led to several accidents.
Several cyclists crashed out turning on the sharp downhill after the steep climb at Karangreja, Purbalingga, including Indonesia’s Under-23 teammate Rully F. Ibnu. He dropped out of the race due to a severe arm injury.
“The roads were slippery and we had to avoid crashing unto motorists along the route,” Rully said.
The fourth stage also featured two sprinting events. Amir Zargari of Iran won the first intermediate sprint at the 81.5 km mark. Irish Valenzuela from Jazy Sports Beacon of the Philippines won the second intermediate sprint at the 116.8 km mark.
During Thursday’s fifth stage, cyclists will face the steepest terrain of the race along the 146-km route from Semarang to Yogyakarta.
Source: The Jakarta Post
November 27th, 2008
Jakarta - Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation with the world’s second-longest shoreline, has consistently underachieved in the tourism sector and 2008 is proving no exception.
‘The global economic crisis has started to have an impact,’ said Sapta Nirwandar, director-general for marketing at the Culture and Tourism Ministry.
‘With the looming crisis, I’m afraid we will not have the expected peak of foreign tourist arrivals in December,’ Nirwandar said, referring to the usual end-of-the-year surge of tourists to the tropical isles.
Despite record-breaking tourism numbers at Indonesia’s prime beach resort of Bali, the country will again miss this year’s overall target for foreign visitors, he predicted.
Due to the global economic downturn, the government has revised down its targets for 2008 foreign tourist arrivals to ‘realistic figures’ of around 6.4 million, from initial goal of 7 million.
According to the National Statistics Agency, the three quarters spanning January to September brought nearly 4.6 million tourists, a 12.2 per cent increase from the same period of 2007, or 4.1 million.
Indonesia’s tourism industry has been hit by a string of calamities over the past five years, ranging from bomb attacks in Bali and Jakarta, to tsunamis and earthquakes, and outbreaks of bird flu and SARS respiratory disease.
Travel warnings issued by several countries have also taken a toll.
2008 began on good footing, until the latest catastrophe - the financial meltdown in the US and Europe - struck.
‘Bali this year had a record number of arrivals and was projected to have its strongest year ever, until the recent financial situation, and we have also been impacted by the recent executions of the Bali bombers,’ said Darryl Marsden, general manager of the Hard Rock Hotel Bali.
Bali hotels are reportedly enjoying 90 per cent occupancy rates this November and December.
Bali, the gem of Indonesia’s tourism industry, was hard hit by the 2003 bombings that killed up to 200 people, many of them Australian tourists, followed by another suicide bombing in 2005.
‘The outlook for Bali’s tourism industry remains positive,’ Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya, head of the Bali’s tourism board, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. ‘The main issue in Bali is security. As long as security is being guaranteed, there will be more and more foreign visitors to Bali in 2009.’
But no one knows to what extent the financial crisis will impact the island.
‘Our peak season doesn’t actually start until June, so it’s hard to say with any certainty what’s going to happen in February, March and April,’ said Marsden.
The sprawling nation of more than 17,000 tropical islands, teeming with coral reefs, exotic wildlife, volcanoes and inland waterways, is a nature lover’s paradise.
Istijab Danunegoro, chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association chapter in Yogyakarta, the Javanese cultural capital that is another prime tourist destination, foresees a slowdown in arrivals next year but still predicts growth.
‘With a better cooperation among related parties and better promotion, the outlook for tourism remains positive,’ Istijab said, projecting tourist arrivals to increase by about 10 per cent in 2009.
Cultural and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik has also called for greater cooperation within the sector, given its huge capacity to create employment and reduce poverty.
‘This industry needs interactive efforts between all parties concerned - the government, tourist players as well as the public,’ Wacik told the Indonesian daily Kompas.
He acknowledged that the country is losing some tourists to neighbouring countries, partly because of limited promotion funds, inadequate transport and infrastructure, and a lack of professional guides.
‘Domestic airlines have so far still been unable to cover the requirement of transporting tourists to the destinations,’ the tourism minister said. ‘Moreover, when the Visit Indonesia program again rolled out this year, not many domestic airlines and hotel operators welcomed this.’
Source: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/
November 26th, 2008
The “Asian Puppet Show Meeting” will be held in Yogyakarta, Central Java of Indonesia, next month, and 13 countries have been confirmed to attend, according to local media on Tuesday.
The countries taking part in the meeting are the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), India, China and Japan, Antara news agency on Tuesday quoted the secretary general of the ASEAN Puppet Show Association, Tupuk Sutrisno, as saying.
The event would be the first at Asian level and was the idea ofthe ASEAN Puppet Show Association with members from all ASEAN countries except Brunei Darussalam, he said.
”The association invited three other countries to participate in it to develop understanding on the importance of cooperation among Asian countries possessing puppet show,” he told local reporters on Monday.
Japan, India and China are invited because they have unique puppet shows which continue to be preserved by artists operating in classical as well as contemporary shows.
”In the event each participating country plans to introduce its puppet show briefly,” he said.
During the meeting, it is expected members will make an agreement on exchange of shows and experts besides discussion on the establishment of puppet show centers to preserve the show.
”We also plan to discuss the development of the present Asian puppet show association into a world association,” he added.
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english
November 25th, 2008
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Culture and Tourism minister Jero Wacik has asked the blogger community to help promote Indonesia`s tourist sites among the international public.
In a prepared speech read by a senior tourism official at a Blogger Party 2008 here Saturday, the minister said ,”The second blogger party will stimulate online network growth in Indonesia. It can make blogs a more effective media to promote tourism.”
He said almost all human activities now involve internet facilities so that this type of media was an effective vehicle to promote Indonesia`s tourism.
“Today, almost all human activities are closely related to the on-line media. It is necessary to put the mission to promote tourism,” he said, adding that he hoped bloggers from foreign countries like Australia, the US and Malaysia can also publicize Indonesia`s tourism sites.
“Coinciding with the Indonesia Visit Year 2008 program, we try to make breakthroughs in promoting tourism, including through the online media,” said Wacik.
Meanwhile, Director General of the Telemathics Application of the Communication and Information Ministry, Cahyana Ahmadijaya, said that blogging had developed from “blogfun” to “blogprenuer” and could still develop into other aspects of social signifiance.
“We have set October 27 as National Blogger Day. This will be the start of digital community development in Indonesia,” Ahmadijaya said.
“The government has given the freedom to people to make blogs. However, we still must abide by existing regulations,” State Minister for Research and Technology Kusmayanto Kadiman said.
“The development of blogging is closely related to technological development. Blogs nowadays do not only play a role in the technology sector but also in the economic and even political sectors,” he said, adding blogs were complementing, not replacing, the existing information media.
(*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008
Source: ANTARA News
November 24th, 2008
Latest Tourism Arrivals Figures
Indonesia has seen a strong start to 2008 tourist arrival figures. The number of tourists visiting the archipelago during the first quarter increased by 15.68% year on year (y-o-y), to 1,405,456. This increase is very much in line with BMI’s own expectations of a 15% annual rise, so we see no reason to modify our forecasts this quarter. Bali continues to be the engine driving the wider Indonesian tourism industry, with the island welcoming some 197,700 tourists in February alone, an increase of almost 30%.
Adam Air Grounded
In a further blow for Indonesia’s embattled airline industry, the government decided in March 2008 to revoke Adam Air’s operating licence. The decision follows a spate of fatal accidents in 2007 and another incident in March 2008, when an Adam Air plane overshot the runway on Batam Island. Although no people were killed in this latest incident, it was enough to spur the government into action, especially as a recent quarterly safety evaluation carried out by the ministry found the airline had ‘violations that could put passengers’ safety at risk’. The decision means that Adam Air is now grounded until it is evaluated again in June 2008. If no improvements are found, the airline will have its air operator certificate permanently removed and the airline will be effectively closed down. The airline was already suffering from financial turmoil, with the Batam crash prompting the private consortium led by PT Bhakti Investama to offload its 50% stake in the airline. At the same time, the airline’s president, Adam Adutya Suherman, suggested to local media that the airline was no longer able to insure its fleet of aircraft, as it could not meet a deadline for payments on its insurance policies. This follows reports the airline had already defaulted on some of its lease payments for aircraft. BMI believes that the grounding of Adam Air is a welcome sign that the Indonesian authorities are now cracking down on the bad practices and lax attitudes to safety that have marred the industry in recent years. However, the closure of the airline will have a deletrious impact on capacity within the domestic industry. Adam Air had flown 6mn passengers in 2007, so the industry may not now not be able to serve so many passengers this year.
Visit Indonesia 2008 Campaign Launched
In late December 2007, the government officially launched Visit Indonesia 2008. The aims of this US$15mn domestic and international marketing campaign are to attract some 7mn foreign tourists to Indonesia and generate some US$6.4bn in foreign tourism receipts. There will also be over 100 international events and cultural festivals held around the archipelago to raise Indonesia’s international profile. The campaign marks the first time since 1991 that the government has held an international Visit Indonesia marketing campaign. The last campaign was not particularly successful, but this was carried out during a time of global economic slowdown. This year’s launch also got off to an inauspicious start when it was revealed that the tourism ministry’s English slogan ‘Celebrating 100 years of nation’s awakening’ was incorrect and had to be changed to ‘100 years of national awakening’. This gaffe forced Garuda Indonesia to repaint 10 planes that had already been tagged with the slogan. Although we welcome the launch of this tourism marketing campaign as a way of bringing tourists back to the country, BMI does not believe that the 7mn target can be reached, as this would represent a massive 27% increase y-o-y. We believe that our long-held target of 6.35mn visitors for 2008 can be reached, provided of course the security situation does not deteriorate. This would still represent strong annual growth of over 15%.
Indonesia Losing Tourism Competitiveness
The World Economic Forum recently released its second annual World Tourism Competitiveness Index. Indonesia has fallen 20 places from last year, to now be ranked at 80 out of 130 countries surveyed. The 2008 report placed particular emphasis on the issue of ‘balancing economic development and environmental stability’. The WEF’s analysis tallies very much with BMI’s own views on the country. In the WEF’s analysis, Indonesia scores highly in areas such as price competitiveness and national prioritisation of travel and tourism. However, weaknesses included underdeveloped tourism infrastructure and other issues related to
tourist safety and security.
www.companiesandmarkets.com/Summary-Market-Repor ..
Author:
Mike King
Source: http://www.live-pr.com/en/
November 24th, 2008
The tiny Furby-like pygmy tarsier, presumed to be extinct, was found during a recent expedition to Indonesia. And the cuddly, huge-eyed nocturnal critter is the very definition of cute.
“They always look like they have a perpetual smile on their face, which adds to the attraction,” says physical anthropologist Sharon Gursky-Doyen, who found the presumed lost species.
Gursky-Doyen of Texas A&M University traveled into the mountains of Sulawesi Island in Indonesia to confirm that the pygmy tarsier was unequivocally extinct, but ended up becoming the first person in more than 80 years to spot a live one.
Many scientific teams had previously tried but failed to find the two-ounce (60-gram) primate, which has long spindly fingers, dines on insects and can rotate its head 180 degrees like an owl. “I honestly didn’t have a lot of faith,” Gursky-Doyen told ScientificAmerican.com, “I had very low expectations of actually finding them.”
But then she did. “It was very, very euphoric, but I was shaking like a leaf,” she says about her surprising discovery. “I was shaking so much that I could barely handle him.”
Over the course of two months, her team captured two more and spotted a fourth. They snapped radio collars on the fuzzy creatures to track them.
Gursky-Doyen explains that finding the pygmy tarsier means that other animals on the island may have smaller ranges than previously believed, making them more vulnerable to extinction.
Pygmy tarsiers are about half the size of other species and sport claws on their hands and feet instead of nails. Gursky-Doyen speculates that their claws may be an evolutionary adaptation to help them grasp the moss-covered trees of their damp environment.
Source: http://www.sciam.com/
November 21st, 2008
Niken Prathivi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Cycling Association (ISSI) is reviving the annual Tour de Indonesia after a hiatus last year with more challenging runs promised for the event starting this Sunday.
Around 90 riders from eight international teams and eight local teams have confirmed participation in the race and will battle it out for a total US$100,000 in prize money.
According to event director Sofian Ruzian, the Tour de Indonesia would challenge riders with more demanding routes.
“The riders will go through stages with steeper slopes, such as the hilly Alas Roban and Gombel region in Central Java, and Kintamani in Bali,” Sofian said at a media conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.
“But riders need not worry about safety, as we have coordinated with the National Police, provincial police and district police along the way,” he said. All participating teams and media personnel will receive personal insurance worth Rp 50 million.
The organizers have planned to use an “open-close” arrangement for the traffic.
“The road conditions won’t allow us to use closed-routes like the meets in Europe.”
The race, running from Nov. 23 to Dec. 5, stretches 1,726 kilometers from Jakarta to Bali and is split into 12 stages.
The international teams include Jazy Sports-Beacon of the Philippines, the Japanese National Team, Jajo Spirit of Sport VC Franches Montagnes of Switzerland, Tinelli Collosi of Australia/New Zealand, the Malaysian National Team, Kuala Lumpur Cycling Association of Malaysia, Polygon Sweet Nice Team of Indonesia, Mes Kerman and Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team of Iran.
Indonesia has eight teams competing, including the favorite Dodol Picnic Garut which will field the country’s best rider Tonton Susanto.
Sofian said he expected Tonton to lead on the steeper tracks. Tonton took the green jersey during the 2006 Tour de Indonesia and the silver medal at the recent National Games in East Kalimantan
“I’m confident he can end up King of Mountain,” said the ISSI chief deputy.
After losing sponsors Dji Sam Soe, the race has obtained financial support from Telkom, which backs up to 70 percent of the total sponsorship.
“This sponsorship shows we care about the sport and support Indonesia’s tourism campaign,” Vice deputy of public and marketing communication of PT Telkom Eddy Kurnia said.
Source: The Jakarta Post
November 21st, 2008
Veeramalla Anjaiah , The Jakarta Post
The Netherlands and Indonesia have a more than 300-year-old love-hate relationship. But it took a new turn in 2005 when the Dutch government finally expressed regret over its “police actions” in the late 1940s and recognized Indonesia’s independence day as Aug. 17, 1945.
“Our decision to accept Aug. 17, 1945, as Indonesia’s independence day in 2005 has changed the direction of our relationship with Indonesia,” Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Nikolaos van Dam told The Jakarta Post in an interview recently at his office in Jakarta.
Since then, both countries have enjoyed a big boom in their relations.
Before 2005, the Dutch government recognized Indonesia’s independence date as Dec. 27, 1949 — the day it formally transferred sovereignty to Indonesia. In 1947, the Netherlands deployed its military in Indonesia to suppress the young republic, an action that led to the deaths of thousands of people from both sides.
Describing the growing ties between the two countries, Van Dam said the mutual trust, friendship and willingness to develop stronger relations had resulted in the unprecedented boom in bilateral relations.
“More than half of our Cabinet members, including our Prime Minister in 2006, visited Indonesia during the last three years. This shows how important Indonesia is for us in this region,” Van Dam, one of the busiest ambassadors in town, said.
The latest visitor was Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Maria van der Hoeven, who came to Indonesia last week to inaugurate the Holland Weeks cultural festival.
With more than 150 staff members, the Dutch Embassy in Jakarta is the biggest Dutch Embassy in the world.
Van Dam said high-level visits were not a one-sided affair.
“From the Indonesian side we also have numerous high-level visits to the Netherlands. Now we are waiting for the visit of the Indonesian President (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono),” he said.
Trade between the two countries has grown at a tremendous pace over the last five years (see table).
“Our bilateral trade last year surpassed the US$3 billion mark. Indonesia enjoys a significant and increasing trade surplus with the Netherlands,” Van Dam, who speaks fluent Indonesian, said.
In 2007, bilateral trade surged to $3.25 billion — a huge jump from $1.77 billion in 2003. In the first seven months of 2008, bilateral trade was valued at $2.54 billion, 52.41 percent higher than the $1.66 billion recorded over the same period in 2007.
But the growth in trade favors Indonesia, thanks to its strong exports to the Netherlands. For instance, Indonesia exported $2.75 billion worth of goods to the Netherlands and imports $503.99 million goods from there in 2007.
There is another dimension to the trade between Indonesian and the Netherlands.
“The Netherlands is a gateway to Europe for Indonesian products. Most of Indonesia’s trade to Europe has been through the Dutch port of Rotterdam. Simultaneously, Indonesia is also a gateway to Southeast Asia for our products,” Van Dam said.
In terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) planning approvals, the Netherlands ranked 8th in 2007 with a total investment of $645 million in 57 projects.
Thanks to historical links and enormous economic potential, Dutch companies have always been attracted to Indonesia.
“Shell, one of world’s leading energy companies, actually originated in Sumatra in 1890. Companies like Unilever, which has huge plants in Indonesia, Philips and other Dutch companies are well-known here,” Van Dam said.
Besides trade and investment, Van Dam went on, Indonesia and the Netherlands enjoyed good cooperation in areas such as agriculture, energy, technology, defense, shipbuilding and tourism.
Last year, the Netherlands provided $105 million in development assistance to Indonesia for programs covering good governance, education, water management, drinking water, sanitation, improving the investment climate, community development, and rehabilitation and reconstruction of tsunami-affected areas.
“The majority of the Netherlands’ funds are allocated to programs driven by the Indonesian government and channeled through multilateral agencies (the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the UN) that are responsible for the supervision, monitoring and coordination,” Van Dam said.
Of these areas, the tourism sector is very important in Dutch-Indonesian relations.
“Almost a third of Dutch citizens have personal links with Indonesia, and many Indonesians also have close links with the Netherlands,” Van Dam said.
Commenting on the European Commission’s ban on Indonesian airlines from EU airspace, Van Dam said the Netherlands was already helping Indonesia improve its air safety.
“(The ban) was unfortunate. But air safety is everybody’s concern. We are currently helping Indonesia improve the safety of air transportation,” Van Dam said.
Though no Indonesian airlines now fly to Europe, the ban does affect the work of many European diplomats.
“The ban affects relations between the EU and Indonesia. But I use local airlines for my official duties, I don’t have any problems with Indonesian airlines,” Van Dam said.
Source: The Jakarta Post
November 20th, 2008
Next Posts
Previous Posts