Bali becomes Chinese tourist destination<\/p>\n
By Rini Utami<\/p>\n
DENPASAR, Bali (Antara): China has made Bali one of its main
\ntourist destinations for its nationals wishing to spend their
\nholidays in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Since the opening of Indonesia-China economic and trade
\ncooperation in 1985, followed by the thawing of relations between
\nthem in 1990, Bali now has the opportunity to enchant visitors
\nfrom China.<\/p>\n
Around 27 million Chinese tourists travel annually to several
\nAsian countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and
\nAustralia but rarely spend their holidays in Indonesia because of
\ncomplicated immigration procedures here.<\/p>\n
\"The number of foreign tourists coming to Indonesia from China
\nis relatively small, only about 14,000 people a year,\" said I
\nGede Ardika, now minister of culture and tourism.<\/p>\n
Their contribution, said Ardika, averaged between O.32 percent
\nand O.75 percent of the total foreign tourists visiting
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
In fact, in 1999 the number of Chinese tourists visiting
\nIndonesia was only 14,742 people, a decline of 57.05 percent
\ncompared to the previous year, which saw 34,327 tourists.<\/p>\n
Most of the tourists from China choose Bali to other regions
\nof Indonesia as a holiday resort because of its natural beauty
\nand unique culture compared.<\/p>\n
Chief of Bali's regional office of the Department of Tourism
\nand Culture, Luther Barrung, expressed his optimism that Bali,
\nwhich was already noted as an national and international tourist
\ndestination, has great potential in attracting tourists from
\nChina.<\/p>\n
\"In principle, Bali is ready to receive the influx of tourist
\nfrom China now that the two countries have opened economic and
\ntrade relations particularly in the tourism sector,\" said
\nBarrung.<\/p>\n
Cultural and religious oriented tours have been Bali's trade
\nmark. Natural beauty and cultural richness are the island's main
\nattractions to compete with other countries like Malaysia and
\nSingapore in winning Chinese tourists.<\/p>\n
Barung said that Bali, however, should consider reviewing its
\ntourist facilities and supporting infrastructure to prepare for
\nthe influx of Chinese tourists, estimated at 50 percent of the
\ntotal the Chinese visitors to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The facilities concerned comprise hotel rooms, restaurants and
\ntravel agencies to accommodate and handle the flow of tourists.<\/p>\n
Presently, Bali has 1,022 star and non-star rated hotels with
\na total of 17,000 rooms in star-rated hotels and 15,000 rooms in
\nnon-star-rated hotels. This number can accommodate tourists for
\nanother three to four more years. In future, to accommodate an
\nestimated five million foreign tourists per annum, Bali will
\nrequire another 10,000 rooms.<\/p>\n
The readiness of Bali's tourism sector to welcome the influx
\nof tourists from China was expressed by the chairman of Bali's
\noffice of the Indonesian Travel Agencies (ASITA), I Gusti Bagus
\nYudhara.<\/p>\n
\"With a total of about 200 travel agents, the Bali ASITA will
\nbe ready to anticipate the influx of tourists from China,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Based on the agreement, signed by the Indonesian and Chinese
\ngovernments in l994, ASITA will coordinate Indonesian travel
\nagencies which deal with their Chinese counterparts. Indonesia
\nwill choose seven travel agencies and the Chinese government will
\nselect 12 travel agencies to handle the travelers from China.<\/p>\n
In reality, the central government has violated the agreement
\nand set up a consortium consisting of 10 travel agents without
\nany approval from ASITA.<\/p>\n
\"This was a real violation of the memorandum. We are still
\nwaiting for instructions from ASITA's headquarters to assign
\nBali-based travel agencies,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Plans to attract the Chinese tourist market has yet to be
\nthoroughly studied, he said.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Bali regional committee of the Indonesian
\nAssociation of Tour Guides I Made Sudira noted his skepticism
\nsaying that China is probably be one of our potential tourist
\nmarkets, yet it is still a long way from obtaining large revenues
\nfrom their arrivals.<\/p>\n
\"We know how much their income per capita is, so to expect
\nthem to be our biggest contributor in the tourism sector is only
\nwishful thinking,\" he said he pessimistically.<\/p>\n
If Indonesia is planning to expand its market to mainland
\nChina, it should decide whether its objective is to increase the
\nnumber of tourists or to improve the quality of tourists visiting
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Made said the choice of travel agencies should be of first
\npriority if we want to improve the quality of tourists.<\/p>\n
He went on to say that Indonesia also has to provide qualified
\ntour guides to serve these tourists.<\/p>\n
Currently Bali has 2,950 official tourist guides. However,
\nthese guides will face some linguistic difficulties.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, chairman of Bali's office of the Hotel and
\nRestaurant Association I Gede Wiratha said, the rise in Chinese
\ntourists only increases the number of foreign tourists to
\nIndonesia, but not its quality.<\/p>\n
Compared to European and American tourists, the spending
\ncapacity of the majority of Asian tourists, including those from
\nChina, is lower.<\/p>\n
\"Tourists from Europe and America have an average spending
\ncapacity of between US$300 and $500 per day while tourists from
\nAsia, including China only spend on the average $100 per day,\" he
\nmaintained.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bali-becomes-chinese-tourist-destination-1447893297",
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