Seribu Islands for duty-free zone: Only a dream?<\/p>\n
By Grace Emilia<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Ardika, is a 55-feet boat for 16 people, often
\nseen berthing at the pier of Marina Ancol Jakarta.<\/p>\n
It has two cabins, complete fishing equipment and is fully
\nair-conditioned.<\/p>\n
In the good old times (before the monetary crisis), Ardika
\nalways lifted its anchor at least twice a week.<\/p>\n
Rented by families going for holiday in Seribu Islands in
\nNorth Jakarta, by nature lovers in search of the wilderness in
\nUjung Kulon at the western tip of Banten province, or by hunters
\nlooking for wild boars at Tanjung Belimbing in Lampung, Sumatera.<\/p>\n
Many a time, big companies also rent Ardika for entertaining
\ntheir business associates on board.<\/p>\n
In brief, Ardika leads a busy and cheerful life.<\/p>\n
The situation changed. The financial crisis struck everyone,
\nincluding Ardika.<\/p>\n
The boat is now sometimes not used for two months before
\nsomeone takes it to sea.<\/p>\n
\"Currently, we rent it for Rp 5.5 million per 12 hours. It's a
\ngood rate. Before the crisis its rate was Rp 4 million per 12
\nhours. That is only a small hike compared to the three times
\nincrease in spare part prices.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, it is hard to sell the boat although every month
\nwe have to pay Rp 2.5 million for berthing in Marina Ancol,\"
\nsighed Samhudi, Ardika's captain.<\/p>\n
Captain Samhudi and his five crew members are not alone.<\/p>\n
Asep, a counter officer of Pulau Pelangi in Marina Ancol also
\ntells a similar story.<\/p>\n
Before the crisis, Pulau Pelangi was thronged by Italian and
\nJapanese tourists.<\/p>\n
Presently, thanks to the domestic tourists and expatriates,
\nthe island economy is sustained. \"I think foreign tourists are
\nconcerned with the security issues in Jakarta,\" said Asep.<\/p>\n
Pulau Pelangi, located about 70 kilometers from Marina Ancol
\nor about one and a half hours by speedboat, is a near Pulau Sepa
\nand Pulau Pantara.<\/p>\n
The similarities of these beautiful islands are that they have
\nsandy beaches and sit in the middle of a clean blue ocean.<\/p>\n
\"Very good for snorkeling and diving,\" says Jimny Tendean of
\nViany Tour & Travel, which deals with tours and accommodation in
\nSeribu Islands.<\/p>\n
\"Most expats and foreign tourists come to these islands as
\nthey are unspoilt. Pulau Pantara has the best food, compared to
\nthe others, but it is also the furthest and most expensive.\"<\/p>\n
\"Nowadays, the majority of tourists, especially the locals,
\nvisit nearby islands like Pulau Ayer and Pulau Bidadari.<\/p>\n
Pulau Bidadari is the closest and thus the cheapest. These
\nislands, especially Pulau Ayer, have swimming pools, karaoke bars
\nand even Time Zone. Well-equipped facilities are important for
\ntourist. However, unlike Pantara, Sepa or Pelangi, the
\nsurrounding waters in Bidadari and Ayer are not as clean as they
\nare close to the mainland,\" explains Tendean.<\/p>\n
Ramses Simanjuntak, public relation manager of PT Pembangunan
\nJaya Ancol, which owns Pulau Bidadari, even says that the island
\nis not affected by the crisis.<\/p>\n
Some 35,000 visitors landed on Pulau Bidadari last year.<\/p>\n
On weekends, around 700 visitors throng the island per day. If
\nthe nine boats owned by PT Jaya Ancol are fully booked, it rents
\nmore boats from neighboring islands or from private individuals.<\/p>\n
However, not all parties selling Seribu Islands in Marina
\nAncol are as lucky as PT jaya Ancol.<\/p>\n
Though prices for accommodation, boat rental or diving
\nequipment for foreign and domestic tourists are in the local
\ncurrency, which is very good value for money, not many foreign
\ntourists are keen on coming to Jakarta, or to sun bath or dive in
\nSeribu Islands.<\/p>\n
It is a shame as the potential for tourism in Seribu Islands
\nis very big, especially in the northern islands whose nature is
\nstill well-preserved.<\/p>\n
Caribbean<\/p>\n
Well, let's see other parts of the world.<\/p>\n
At the Bahamas in the Caribbean archipelago, there is one
\nsmall island called Princess Cays which belongs to Princess
\nCruises, the Los-Angeles-based ship company owning big cruise
\nships that sail around the world, including to the Caribbean
\nislands.<\/p>\n
Princess Cays is a beautiful island with sandy beaches and a
\ngood diving spot. Once the tourists land on the island, they
\nquickly stand in line to rent a small space for sun bathing on
\nits beach.<\/p>\n
Near the Princess Cays are islands belonging to U.S. Virgin
\nIslands, which was founded by Christopher Colombus and named
\nafter St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix.<\/p>\n
Presently these islands heavily depend on tourism -- mostly
\nfrom the cruise passengers visiting the islands on big ships like
\nthe Grand Princess of Princess Cruises which can hold more than
\n4,000 people. Usually there are three to six of such big ships
\nberthing in these isles during the high tourism season.<\/p>\n
\"Average spending of one cruise passenger is US$243. There
\nwere 1.7 million visitors to St. Thomas in 2000. Cruise
\npassengers itself increases by 10 percent each year.\" says Darr
\nConradson, vice president of marketing for Little Switzerland,
\nwhich manages 17 jewelry shops in the Caribbean islands.<\/p>\n
Yes, some islands in the Caribbean archipelago such as St.
\nThomas are well-known for being a center of duty-free goods like
\njewelry or precious stones imported from all over the world.<\/p>\n
People can find tanzanite imported from Tanzania, gold from
\nItaly, jewelry from Hong Kong or watches from Switzerland. Almost
\nall shops claim their prices are 20 percent to 50 percent lower
\nthan in the United States.<\/p>\n
During the colonial era, St. Thomas was used as the center of
\nslavery. It's now home to 117,000 people with the average income
\nof $26,661 per family.<\/p>\n
Lucita Lewis, senior information officer of the U.S. Virgin
\nIslands Department of Tourism, says the locals are very concerned
\nabout keeping the islands' security tight.<\/p>\n
\"Tourists will come if the islands are safe and secure,\" says
\nLewis though she refers more to the eradicating of pickpockets
\nthan riots when talking of a safe destination.<\/p>\n
Dreaming<\/p>\n
Yanti Sukamdani, chairperson of Indonesia Hotel & Restaurant
\nAssociation's Jakarta chapter, who also an active supporter of
\nthe Jakarta Tourism Board, says Jakarta is targeted to be the a
\nshopping, marine and MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention,
\nExhibition-red) destination.<\/p>\n
As a marine destination, the facilities are adequate. On
\nshopping, the goods sold in Jakarta are good value for money,
\nprobably the best in Asia.<\/p>\n
If the image of Jakarta as a safe destination is restored, we
\ncan expect the northern isles in the Seribu Islands like Pulau
\nPelangi or Pulau Pantara to get busy again handling foreign
\ntourists.<\/p>\n
Probably big ships will also visit Jakarta and drop off
\nthousands of its passengers to shop. If big ship are unable to
\nberth in Marina Ancol, they can use boats like Ardika to transfer
\nthem to the islands.<\/p>\n
Princess Cays does not have a big pier either. Grand Princess'
\npassengers are all transferred to the island by tender boats.<\/p>\n
Should cruise passengers want to see how Indonesians in the
\nSeribu Islands \"actually\" live, they can go to Pulau Untung Jawa.<\/p>\n
The locals sell handicrafts or other cultural products to the
\ntourists. As in the case of U.S. Virgin Islands, probably Seribu
\nIslands can also be promoted as a duty free shopping hub.<\/p>\n
The World Travel and Tourism Council reports that since the
\n1980s, Indonesia has decided to prioritize travel and tourism for
\nforeign exchange earnings.<\/p>\n
Minister of Culture and Tourism I Gede Ardika says that he is
\ntargeting the tourist industry to increase foreign exchange
\nearnings to $7.59 billion and to raise job and business
\nopportunities by 2004.<\/p>\n
The question now is: When will Jakarta restore its image as a
\nsafe destination so that it can develop its tourism potential to
\nthe fullest and feed the people by the money earned from it?<\/p>",
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