Anarchic actions driving tourists away: Minister
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Culture and Tourism closed the year with a pledge to boost tourism promotion and repair the country's tarnished public image resulting from recent anarchic actions which have "effectively driven the foreigners away", Minister I Gde Ardika said.
"We are still suffering from the consequences of these radical mob actions. For instance, many reservations to annual tourism and sports events as well as cruise stopovers have been canceled," Ardika said at a year-end media briefing on Tuesday evening.
The country has seen a wave of extreme actions over the past few months targeted against foreigners.
Ardika specifically mentioned "sweeping operations" in tourist sites and hotels conducted by Muslim groups in Surakarta, Central Java, early last month.
The world used to think that the country was just going through a rough transition towards democracy, marred by internal disputes and communal conflicts, he said.
"But once those groups started to take action directly against foreigners, it changed the whole thing. What they did was to confirm the image that Indonesia was no longer a secure place for tourists," he lamented.
"Actually our country is safe and we have lots of places that are worth visiting," he added.
The minister also pointed out that a United States travel advisory following the incident in Surakarta further aggravated the matter.
"We hope that such anarchic actions will not take place again. People may state their opinions but not through violence. Strong law enforcement is needed and all such cases must be separated from politics and treated as criminal cases," Ardika asserted.
After a miserable year in 1999, the total number of foreign tourists this year is expected to reach over 5.05 million, an increase of about 6.83 percent over the previous year.
Tourism brought in an estimated US$3.47 billion between January and October.
"We had a rough year with riots in Mataram (West Nusa Tenggara) earlier this year and many other incidents, but thank God we managed to pull through," Ardika said.
The positive trend is expected to continue next year with an estimated increase in foreign tourist arrivals of at least the same order as this year.
The ministry has earmarked around Rp 50.1 billion of its Rp 149.7 billion budget for 2001 specifically for tourism promotion.
The ministry also has a new directorate general for culture which previously was under the coordination of the ministry of national education.
"We are also working on marine tourism with six other related ministries. We have a joint team to work on this," Ardika added.
"This year we will focus on good governance and a shift from a centralized to a community-development culture and tourism schemes, especially given the upcoming regional autonomy." (edt)