ASEAN tourism meeting

ASEAN tourism meeting

The tourism ministers from the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) started their annual meeting in
Yogyakarta on Thursday to draft a major ASEAN Tourism Agreement,
to be signed by ASEAN leaders during their summit in Cambodia
later this year. The agreement will pave the way for the
liberalization of the tourism industry in the region in line with
the implementation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) starting
Jan. 1 this year.

Despite disheartening reports about the a steep fall-off in
the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia, we
nevertheless feel upbeat about the meeting. Due to security
problems and continuous negative international media reports,
Indonesia's attractions are not immediately obvious to many
foreign visitors.

The Sept. 11 horror further worsened the situation. Following
anti-U.S. demonstrations and threats of sweeping against
foreigners in several cities, about 1.3 million tourists
reportedly canceled their trips to Indonesia. In 2001, the
government estimated that 5.1 million foreign tourists came to
Indonesia through the country's 13 main entry points.

However, despite the global downturn, Indonesia must realize
that it cannot just complain or wait for world economic recovery,
or for close cooperation with other nations, to improve the
situation. Only through hard work and effective action can we
achieve our goals.

It seems that the government and the tourism industry here has
never seriously tried to learn from the success of its more
aggressive neighbors, such as Singapore and Malaysia.

Bali only represents a small part of Indonesia's beauty,
exoticism and mystique. But the small island has become the most
attractive destination for most foreign tourists visiting here.

Other major destinations are Batam and Yogyakarta. Batam is
mostly visited by Singaporeans, who live just a few miles from
the island, and many of whom come to the island on short breaks.

But how to attract foreign guests if they are not treated as
they expect? There are so many problems at the moment hampering
tourism development, like safety threats, poor infrastructure,
poor overseas promotion, and the corrupt and venal mentality of
our government officials.

It is very important to provide satisfaction for these
potential big spenders. But look at the treatment they receive at
the airports, for instance. There are many reports about the
negative behavior of immigration, and customs and excise officers
at Sukarno-Hatta airport. They often force people, not just
foreigners but also members of certain ethnic groups, such as
Chinese Indonesians, to pay bribes if they want a hassle-free
journey.

Toilet attendants ask for tips. Convenient and safe public
transportation is just a dream. Illegal taxi drivers or scalpers
surround arriving passengers to tout their services. Getting a
reliable taxi is another luxury. And this is just at the airport.

Many foreign countries discourage their citizens from visiting
either the whole of Indonesia or various trouble spots such as
Papua and Aceh. Foreigners who come here expect to find peace,
safety and order.

We hope the Yogyakarta meeting will produce concrete results
for the participating countries, and not just empty words and
documents.

The meeting will mean much for a hard currency-hungry nation
like Indonesia if it helps to significantly increase the number
of foreign tourist arrivals.

Indonesia is entitled to have high expectations of the
meeting, but it will also have to clean up its own messy house
before inviting the tourists to come.