Greek journalists tour Yogya

YOGYAKARTA: Yogyakarta Regional Tourism Board (Baparda) joined hands with the Indonesian Embassy in Athens to invite Greek journalists on a five-day visit to the city, from May 9 through May 13.

During the visit, the entourage of nine, representing six Greek printed and electronic media, was taken to visit the city's tourist attractions including Yogyakarta Palace, Tamansari Water Castle, Prambanan Temple, batik centers, arts shops and galleries.

They were also taken to see Borobudur Temple in the neighboring town of Magelang, Central Java.

"We have been running these programs since 2000. We see this as an effective way of promoting tourism here, especially because it is disseminated through the journalistic coverage of the media invited," head of the Baparda quality development division Ferida Fita told The Jakarta Post while accompanying the entourage earlier this week.

This year alone, according to Fita, Baparda received at least four different groups of electronic and printed media journalists from South Africa, Vietnam, Singapore and Greece. Each group usually comprises four to six journalists for a four-day to six- day visit.

"We have so far received some 10 to 14 groups of journalists per year," Fita said. -- JP