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)