Be nice to tourists please

Be nice to tourists please

PEKANBARU, Riau: Provincial tourism authorities have urged the
people in Dumai, a major oil port city, to treat visitors nicely,
saying that many tourists have been put off by the way they have
been treated.

Soegardjito, head of the Riau branch office of the Ministry of
Tourism, Post and Telecommunication, particularly urged Dumai
people not to hassle arriving visitors.

He said he believed that the reason very few tourists used the
Dumai port was because they had been put off by the "less-than-
kind" reception facing them on arrival, particularly from porters
and people hassling them to offer their services.

"Don't expect more tourists to come here if the chief obstacle
is not removed," he told Antara.

Dumai has been declared an international port and is
considered a gateway to the inland part of the Riau province. The
city also has a huge oil refinery plant.

Last year, only 8,000 foreigners passed through Dumai port.
(emb)