Thousands of Jakartans march for tourism promo<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
About 7,000 Jakartans gathered in front of City Hall on Jl. Medan
\nMerdeka Selatan, Central Jakarta, on Sunday at around 6:30 a.m.
\nNearby, several police officers stood guard and finally turned on
\ntheir patrol car siren when the crowd began to stir and advance.<\/p>\n
But any fears of a clash ensuing faded, as the crowd -- in
\ntheir T-shirts emblazoned with slogans of \"I Love Tourism\" and
\n\"Enjoy Jakarta\" -- were participants of a march held by the
\nJakarta chapter of the Indonesian Tourism Community (MPI) to
\ncommemorate International Tourism Day, which fell on Sept. 27.
\nThe officers were tourism police, escorting the event in patrol
\ncars, as well as on horseback and bicycles.<\/p>\n
The chapter chairwoman Herna P. Danuningrat said the event was
\nheld to help shake the capital's image as a city of riots and
\nterrorist attacks, as well as to raise public awareness of the
\nimportance of the tourism industry.<\/p>\n
\"If we can regularly hold such events, Jakarta will be able to
\nhold international events again,\" she said. \"Combining it with
\nsports activities as was done today can be a start for
\nIndonesia's bid to host the Olympics.\"<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso, who officially started the walk from City
\nHall, called on the public to participate in promoting the city's
\ntourism sector by providing a safe and comfortable environment
\nfor all.<\/p>\n
From City Hall, the participants -- holding pink and blue
\nballoons -- walked along Jl. Thamrin, singing Halo-Halo Bandung
\nand other patriotic songs.<\/p>\n
At the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, the participants placed
\ncolorful posters expressing their hopes and wishes for the
\ndevelopment of the country's tourism on five \"trees of hope\"
\nprovided by the organizers.<\/p>\n
The five-kilometer walk turned back and ended at the Office of
\nthe State Minister for Culture and Tourism on Jl. Medan Merdeka
\nBarat, with the crowd welcomed by a tanjidor (native Betawi
\norchestra) and ondel-ondel (giant effigies clad in Betawi
\ncostumes) performance and an exhibition of various traditional
\nhandicrafts.<\/p>\n
Minister I Gede Ardika thanked all participants and expressed
\nhope that the event would show that Indonesia -- particularly
\nJakarta -- was an ideal tourist destination.<\/p>\n
The event was also marked by a cleanup drive, with organizers
\ntelling the crowd to throw any litter they have in the trash bags
\nprovided.<\/p>\n
The event ended with a mass work-out and the drawing of the
\nmain door prize of return tickets to Bali for two.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thousands-of-jakartans-march-for-tourism-promo-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}