Environmental tourism sought

Environmental tourism sought

JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesian Hotels and
Restaurants (PHRI) is inviting the Agency for Environment Control
(Bappedal) to cooperate in the environmentally-friendly tourism
industry.

PHRI's chairman, Pontjo Sutowo, said here yesterday that the
two parties should sign agreements based on three strategic
areas: the development of environmentally-friendly tourism, human
resources and the impact of environmental policies on the tourism
sector.

During the sixth Five Year Development Plan (Repelita VI), the
rate of tourists arriving in Indonesia is estimated to grow by
12.5 percent per year. The government expects some six million
tourists will visit the country in the last year of the plan.

Pontjo told the participants of an environmental tourism
industry seminar, at the Daiichi hotel, that in attracting
tourists and promoting Indonesia, the industry must improve the
quality of its products.

"Besides, we should also prepare better environmentally
friendly infrastructures because we face competition from other
countries which have already paid attention to the protection of
the environment," he said.

According to Pontjo, countries which succeed in setting
environmental regulations and enhance eco-efficiency will be the
winners in the global competition.(icn)