Govt intends to make Jakarta more attractive
Govt intends to make Jakarta more attractive
JAKARTA (JP): The city administration plans to make Jakarta one of Indonesia's main tourist destinations by promoting the city as a venue for meetings, conventions and exhibitions.
Head of the City Tourism Office Fauzi Bowo said yesterday that Jakarta was well-positioned to become a major tourist destination because of its facilities and historical interest and the access it afforded to other regions and other countries.
"The city has facilities, such as a convention building, hotels and airports," Fauzi said.
He said that the city administration was cooperating with the Indonesian Tourism Commission and private companies, such as airlines and professional conference organizations, to promote the city.
Fauzi said that the function-oriented tourism envisaged was profitable and in line with the government's target of making tourism the sector that earns the most foreign exchange by the end of the seventh five-year national development plan.
"For example, if a convention charges US$1,500 per person for three-and-a-half days, every person attending will spend about $400 in Jakarta," he said.
Tourists in Jakarta currently spend about $250 per day, Fauzi said, adding that the reason for this high figure was that hotel rates were higher here than in other cities.
He expressed confidence that Jakarta was able to compete with other cities in Asia, such as Singapore, in hosting meetings, conventions and exhibitions.
"I am sure Jakarta can compete with Singapore, even though the Lion City has a brand new international convention center, because the cost of living in Singapore is higher than that in Jakarta," he said.
Jakarta had another advantage, according to Fauzi: "Our capital city has many beautiful places which can be easily reached through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport."
Jakarta has several convention centers such as the Jakarta Hilton Convention Center and the World Trade Center, both in Central Jakarta.
Fauzi said that other tourist attractions, such as museums and historical sites, would also be on the itineraries of prospective foreign visitors to Jakarta, but added that there were budgetary constraints.
"We would need a lot of funds to make those places the major tourist attractions in the city and the city administration can not provide such funds. Therefore we are concentrating on other tourist attractions which do not need government funding," Fauzi said.
He criticized Indonesians who preferred to spend a great amount of money shopping abroad rather than in their own country, despite the fact that Jakarta was regarded by tourists from Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam as a shopping paradise.
Fauzi said that a major stumbling block to efforts to boost tourism in the city was a shortage of competent people.
"Many Indonesians do not have the sense to give the best service to customers, as is apparent in many sectors, including taxis, hotels and shopping centers," he said.
He said that providing good service was very important because people took notice of others' experiences in choosing places to visit. (yns)