Foreign companies invited to develop tourist resorts
JAKARTA (JP): The government plans to invite foreign investors to develop several areas into resorts to boost the country's tourist industry.
"Based on studies funded by overseas technical assistance, in the near future there will be opportunities open for foreign investors in the tourist business, comprising hotels, resorts and tourist attractions," Director General of Post and Telecommunications Djakaria Purawidjaja said here yesterday.
He was speaking during a session of the World Infrastructure Forum Asia 1994.
He said foreign investors are welcome to develop classified hotels and possibly to open other business activities in or near hotel compounds and resorts.
He explained that investors interested in establishing hotels would be allowed to develop a minimum of 100 hectares and a maximum of 1,500 hectares. He also encouraged investors to develop marine-tourism, eco-tourism, agro-tourism, adventure and meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition (MICE) facilities.
He said most tourist resorts are now developed by state-owned corporations, including those located in Nusa Dua, Bali, (350 hectares) and Manado, North Sulawesi, (100 hectares). The Bali facility began operating in 1982, while the North Sulawesi resort opened in 1991.
Djakaria said the resorts currently under construction are located in Biak, Irian Jaya, (325 hectares), Belitung (600 hectares), Bintan (19,000 hectares), and Lampung in southern Sumatra (300 hectares). A 600-hectare plot in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, is under preparation for construction.
Djakaria also said there are several private companies currently developing tourist facilities in Pandeglang and Lembang, both in West Java, Sumba Island in East Nusa Tenggara, and Parai on Bangka Island in South Sumatra.
More plans
The government also plans to develop other resorts in Padang, West Sumatra; Nias, North Sumatra; Baturaden, Central Java, and Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, Djakaria said.
Secretary-General of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association Rianto Nurhadi told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the government's plan is good, but must be followed up with the development of supporting business activities in surrounding areas.
"We can't just rely on the tourist industry. We should prepare supporting facilities such as airports, ports, telecommunications facilities and other infrastructure," he said.
He worried at the fact that the government has apparently failed to get private companies to develop Lombok as a tourist resort due to inadequate support facilities.
The president of the state-owned tourism development company PT Bali Tourism Development Corporation, Nadirsjah Zein, said recently that the main problem hampering the development of tourist centers is the absence or poor condition of airports. He said this is causing investors to be wary of investing in hotels due to the fear of having very few tourist arrivals.
Rianto stressed that the government should consider rethinking regulations on land ownership, if foreign investors are to be welcome to develop large sites for tourism.
"So far many foreign companies only manage hotels and resorts," he said, adding that some of them participate in small- scale ownership, or procure property using the names of their domestic partners. (rid/icn)