Govt must act to lure 'foreign cruise ships'

JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the Inbound Tour Operators Club Arievaldy Kumarga said on Saturday the government should be more active in encouraging foreign cruise ship operators to enter Indonesian waters.

"The government, and even local tour operators, have rarely participated in international tourism promotion events on the cruise travel sector," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said the government should establish adequate facilities, especially in ports, but also in land transportation, to make areas more accessible to cruise ships.

Many attractive tourist destinations in the country were not accessible, because their ports were too shallow, he said.

A source from Vista Express Tours and Travel, one of the few local tour operators providing excursions for cruise passengers, said provinces with ports accessible to cruise ships included Jakarta, Semarang, Surabaya, Bali, Padang, Manado, Ambon and Irian Jaya.

She echoed Arievaldy's opinion, saying the greatest problem faced by her company and cruise operators was the limited number of areas suitable for cruise passengers.

"Cruise operators have no complaints regarding procedures. They decide themselves where they want to bring the passengers, and we provide guidance on reaching the nearest tourist spots," she told the Post.

Director General of Tourism I Gede Ardika recently said foreign cruise operators or companies wanting to open services in Indonesia were allowed to chose their own routes and destinations.

He acknowledged a tendency on the government's part to pay more attention to air and land tourism than sea travel ventures, as the latter had become less popular.

He said, however, that the government had tried to provide incentives to attract foreign cruise operators to Indonesia.

"The government, through the Investment Coordinating Board, has also given some leeway for foreign investors to open their cruise businesses here," he said without elaborating on which investors had approached the government.

He said more incentives, including special tax treatment would be provided to attract more foreign cruise operators.

Latest data from the Tourism, Art and Culture Ministry reveals that the number of foreign tourists traveling to Indonesia on cruise ships rose to 486,442 persons during the first four months this year, compared to 414,186 persons recorded in the same period last year.

The number of inbound cruise passengers during the first four months this year rose by 7.8 percent, while the number of tourists who arrived in aircraft increased by only 5.2 percent. (cst)