Govt asked to focus on Bali tourism promotion
JAKARTA (JP): Legislators and tourist industry businesses suggested the government on Wednesday focuses its tourism promotion campaign on Bali, because the island is the only saleable tourism destination in the country.
Legislator Burhanuddin Napitupulu, who chairs the House of Representatives Commission IV for public works, transportation, tourism, communications and public housing, said foreign visitors generally considered Bali the safest destination in the country at present.
"We should, therefore, change our tourism promotion campaign and take Bali as the focus of attention, at least over the next five years," he said in a hearing with several tourism-related associations.
Burhanuddin of the Golkar faction said when visiting Bali foreign visitors should also be encouraged to visit other parts of the country.
To support the campaign, the government should improve the infrastructure in the province, he said.
"Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport should be expanded and improved because it is already too small for an international airport. We should develop Benoa harbor to cater to cruises, or develop Sukawati market as a leading shopping attraction," he said.
Data from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture shows that during the January-October period last year, Bali recorded the lowest decrease in the number of foreign tourist arrivals among 11 points of entry.
Foreign tourist arrival numbers in Bali declined by seven percent during the period, compared to Jakarta, where figures dropped by 39.33 percent.
Officials estimate the number of foreign tourists would further decline this year due to reports of riots and growing unrest in several parts of the country.
The occupancy rates of hotels in Bali reached over 55 percent during the period, the highest among tourist destinations. Hotel occupancy rates in Jakarta and Yogyakarta only reached 34 percent and 40 percent respectively during the same period.
The Chairman of the Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board (BPPI) Pontjo Sutowo said that BPPI has introduced Bali-plus and Beyond Bali tour packages, which offer tourists a visit to Bali and other destinations in one package, as a promotion of alternative parts of the country.
But so far, he said, the programs have not run well because of lack of support from other destinations.
"By promoting Bali, foreign tourists will forget that they are visiting Indonesia, which is being avoided due to reports of daily riots in the country. However, this move was not supported by other tourist destinations, which say that they have been left out by BPPI in its tourism promotion campaign," he said.
Speaking in the same hearing, Pontjo said that the campaign should be better promoted in order to gain more support from the tourist industry in other destinations.
Burhanuddin also said that the commission was against the local airlines demand for an increase in the domestic airfares following the recent 60 percent increase in jet fuel prices.
He said that the Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA) demand to raise domestic airfares by 60 percent was unreasonable.
"The fuel cost is 17 percent of an airline's total operating costs. So if it is necessary to increase airfares, the increase should only be six percent," he said.
The government increased the jet fuel price from Rp 600 (US$ 0.07) to Rp 1,060 (US$ 0.12) per liter, effective Feb. 5.
The government last increased domestic airfares by 40 percent to Rp 753 per kilometer per seat based on the assumed Rp 10,600 to the U.S. dollar on Sept. 1, 1998.
The Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) Sri Mulyono Herlambang said that another increase in airfares would kill the local tourist industry because it would discourage people from traveling.
"The current airfares are already too high because they are based on a rupiah rate of over Rp 10,000 per U.S dollar. They should be lowered because the rupiah has appreciated," he said.
The rupiah was traded at around Rp 8,600 on Wednesday. (gis)