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)