RI needs high-class campaign<\/p>\n
By Grace Emilia<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The eyes of the international tourism industry,
\nespecially in ASEAN, will soon be upon Yogyakarta as the biggest
\ntourism event in South East Asia, namely the Asean Tourism Forum
\n(ATF), will be held there in January 2002.<\/p>\n
Around 400 international buyers and 800 international sellers
\nare predicted to come. ASEAN tourism ministers will also attend
\nand have a conference to discuss the development of tourism in
\nSouth East Asian countries.<\/p>\n
To prepare for the event, and also to develop the MICE
\n(Meeting, Incentive, Convention & Exhibition) industry, the
\ngovernment of Yoygakarta has decided to build a 10,800-square-
\nmeter exhibition and convention hall on 4.7 hectares of land in
\nthe middle of the city. It will cost around US$1 million to
\nbuild.<\/p>\n
News spreads so fast. Not long after the government of
\nYogyakarta announced the plan and which was cited by a regional
\ntourism media, Veng Sereyvuth, the tourism minister of Cambodia,
\nsaid at a press conference during the latest PATA (Pacific Asia
\nTravel Association) Conference in Kuala Lumpur on April 11, that
\nhis country would learn from Indonesia as Cambodia was scheduled
\nto host the ATF in 2003.<\/p>\n
However, soon after the press conference was over, some
\ninternational journalists were asking themselves where Yogyakarta
\nwas.<\/p>\n
They even faced a bit difficulty in pronouncing \"Yoygakarta\".
\nNo wonder the Governor of Yoygakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono
\nX, plans to change the name \"Yogyakarta\" to \"Jogja\" to make it
\neasier for people to remember.<\/p>\n
The fact that people (abroad) do not know the whereabouts of
\nYogyakarta is not solely the problem of Yogyakarta. It is the
\nproblem of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Such ignorance has caused lots of headaches for Indonesia's
\ntourism industry, especially when there are riots or disturbances
\nin some areas and the industry has to explain that the distance
\nfrom Bali to troubled Aceh is similar to that from London in
\nBriton to Warsaw in Poland; or the distance from Yogyakarta to
\nMaluku is like from Vancouver in Canada to Los Angeles in the
\nU.S.<\/p>\n
Yes, the tourism industry is very sensitive to issues
\nconcerning security. Antonie Sirot, general manager of the
\nNovotel Bogor in West Java complained that he lost business from
\nKorea earlier this year due to the \"Solo incident\" in Central
\nJava when some irresponsible group went on the hunt for American
\nguests in Solo in November of last year.<\/p>\n
\"They are golfers who usually stay up to 8 weeks, but they
\ncanceled their trip as the Solo incident made the headlines in
\nKorea.\" said Sirot.<\/p>\n
So far, Bali is still the winner that sustains inbound tourism
\nin Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Of 5,046 million tourists visiting Indonesia in 2000, 1,386
\nmillion came to Bali. Yogyakarta, often regarded the second
\ninbound destination after Bali only received 73,361 visitors in
\n1999 (a more than 300% decrease compared to 1995 when it received
\n344,265 inbound visitors).<\/p>\n
\"If the tourism industry in this city is still alive well, it
\nis thanks to the domestic visitors who throng Yogya especially on
\nweekends.\" says Darmawan Pandoyo, marketing manager of the Hotel
\nSantika Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
This sharp drop in the number of inbound visitors to
\nYogyakarta started in 1998 after the political, social and
\neconomic crises in Indonesia started -- not solely because the
\nproduct was stagnant.<\/p>\n
Jono Lesmana, branch manager of Tunas Indonesia Tour & Travel
\nYogyakarta comments that the tourism product is not the heart of
\nthe matter as products will develop automatically in line with
\nthe coming of tourists.<\/p>\n
\"There is now alternative tourism products, such as
\nagrotourism, also adventure tourism like caving in various caves
\naround Yogya or culture tourism where tourists can learn to dye
\nfabrics, play the gamelan and even plant rice.\" adds Pandoyo.<\/p>\n
Elly Hutabarat, president of PanTravel and also chairperson of
\nPATA's Indonesia chapter, said that at the latest ASEANTA
\n(Association of Southeast Asian Travel Associations) meeting held
\nin Yogyakarta last month, her colleagues from the ASEAN countries
\nwere saying things like, \"This place is a very good destination.
\nWe really enjoyed our stay. Good golf courses, good hotels, good
\nfood, good shopping, why don't you promote this more?\"<\/p>\n
Promotion<\/p>\n
Bintan is a perfect example of the utmost importance of
\npromotion. Hoteliers report that the island has been relatively
\nstable, untouched by the regional economic crisis nor the unrest
\nin Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Often regarded as the second destination to Singapore, this
\nisland is much promoted by the Singapore Tourism Board; besides
\nalso having Singapore as its major market. Travel Asia, a
\nregional travel media reports that arrivals to Bintan have even
\nbeen increasing by 20 percent yearly.<\/p>\n
Konstantin Iakouchev, a Moscow-based reporter with a tourism
\npublication in Russia who was invited by the Indonesian tourism
\nindustry to visit the archipelago, said that in Russia, Indonesia
\nis known, but mostly only Bali.<\/p>\n
\"Other parts of Indonesia such as Lombok, Jakarta and Bintan
\nare less familiar. Sumatra, Kalimantan and Irian Jaya are known
\nfrom geography lessons at school. Almost no brochures mention the
\nexistence of Indonesia. Russians usually go to a minimum of two
\ncountries when visiting Asia.<\/p>\n
In South East Asia, popular destinations are Singapore -
\nMalaysia, Singapore - Bali, and also Singapore - Bintan.\" said
\nIakouchev.<\/p>\n
Among the neighboring countries, Thailand is a good example of
\nwhy a crisis should not reduce the number of tourists visiting a
\ncountry. Data from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)
\nreveals that since 1995, the number of visitors has been
\ncontinuously increasing.<\/p>\n
It's just that in 1997, the percentage rise was lower, only
\n0.68%, compared to other years. \"This was the time when some of
\nTAT's representative offices overseas were closed down.<\/p>\n
\"However, Thai Airways as the national flag carrier still
\nsupported TAT for promotional activities,\" says Danadi Sutjianto,
\nTAT Marketing Representative for Indonesia whose office was
\nreopened in October 2000.<\/p>\n
Presently, Thailand receives the highest number of inbound
\nvisitors in South East Asia (9,578 million) and had a market
\nshare in East Asia and the Pacific of 8.6 percent in 2000
\n(Indonesia's market share was 4.5% during the same period).<\/p>\n
\"Thailand's promotional budget for 2001 is $94 million,
\nSingapore's $87 million, Malaysia's around $60 million and
\nIndonesia's only $5 million.<\/p>\n
Though it is far from enough, the figure represents a 500
\npercent increase over last year, showing that the legislature has
\nstarted to understand the importance of tourism.\" says Thamrin
\nBachri, director general of marketing and international relations
\nat the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.<\/p>\n
Bachri says that presently, this budget will be mostly used
\nfor improving the quality and quantity of promotional materials,
\npresenting a good image of Indonesia by using international
\nelectronic media, holding limited road shows in a number of
\nprospective countries, and maintaining Indonesia's presence at
\nseveral major tourism fairs, like the International Travel
\nExchange (ITB) in Berlin and World Travel Mart in London.<\/p>\n
\"For research and development (R&D), we are only able to
\nallocate less than one percent of the total budget, in the form
\nof a passenger exit survey. Meanwhile, in other East Asia &
\nPacific countries R&D usually makes up more than 5.4% of the
\ntotal promotional budget.\" admits Bachri.<\/p>\n
Well, since it is the fact that Indonesia does not have much
\nmoney, the country's tourist industry should find other ways to
\npromote itself. Especially if Indonesia wants to maintain tourism
\nas its number one foreign exchange earner in the non-oil and gas
\nsector, as was the case during 2000.<\/p>\n
As far as the budget is concerned, Feisol Hashim, chairman for
\ninternational relations and marketing promotion with the
\nIndonesia Tourism Society, which represents both the government
\nand private sector, says that creativity can help to solve some
\nof the problems. \"We can try to get funding from sponsors as well
\nas income from the tourism events held in Indonesia.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Elly Hutabarat suggests that Indonesia appoint
\nDestination Management Companies (DMC) in each country to be its
\nmarketing representative.<\/p>\n
\"Should we do this, we wouldn't have to send our people to
\ncarry out marketing abroad, which is very expensive. Even if we
\nhad to pay, it won't cost much. For example, say we appoint a DMC
\nin Bangkok. As part of the local scene, this DMC knows where to
\ngo in doing promotion. Also the Thai residents who want to know
\nabout Indonesia can go to that DMC and get information from
\nthere.\"<\/p>\n
Public relations is another thing that is very vital. Ron
\nErdmann, deputy director tourism development with the U.S.
\nDepartment of Commerce suggests that Indonesia needs to follow up
\non travel advisories issued by embassies, like those often issued
\nby the U.S. Embassy.<\/p>\n
\"Sometimes the warning has been lifted but people do not know
\nbecause there has been no further follow-up informing the world
\nabout it from the industries and media of the countries
\nconcerned,\" says Erdmann.<\/p>\n
As tourism belongs to everybody, especially since Indonesia
\nputs emphasis on \"community-based tourism\" where every part of
\nsociety can benefit, it should then be everybody's concern to
\nrestore and subsequently maintain a good image of Indonesia.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-needs-high-class-campaign-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}