Govt must act to lure 'foreign cruise ships'
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)