Foreign companies invited to develop tourist resorts
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)