Is it ready to be touted as a single tourist destination?

SUNGAILIAT, Bangka-Belitung (JP): Has the proclamation of Bangka as one of the country's tourist destinations in the early 1990s met its expectations?

Yes, but its growth is not as good as was predicted.

An increasing number of holiday revelers, including foreigners, in search of pristine and natural beauty, did flock to Bangka when the island opened itself to tourists with the development of Parai Beach Resort.

The launching of Bangka as a tourist destination was marked with the inauguration, in great fanfare, of the four-star Parai Indah Hotel in April, 1991 by former president Soeharto together with several other hotels.

The steady influx of tourists, especially from overseas, to the island reached its peak in 1997. However the numbers dropped drastically in the following years because of bloody conflicts in a number of provinces after the downfall of Soeharto from his 32- year presidency.

"Many foreign tourists, most of whom come in groups, canceled their plans to visit Bangka due to security concerns," Rina Trisella, assistant resident manager of Parai Indah Hotel in Sungailiat, told The Jakarta Post.

Sungailiat is about 45 minutes drive from Depati Amir Airport in Pangkal Pinang, the capital of the newly established Bangka- Belitung province.

Despite the drop in the number of visitors, Parai Indah Hotel, which has 73 seaview cottages, has thus far managed to post an average occupancy rate of 50 percent, she said.

Visitors to the hotel at present are mostly businessmen and a handful of expatriates, Rina said.

After Bangka-Belitung separated from South Sumatra province and was declared the country's 31st province, the local administration gave tourism priority in its development program.

Amur Muchasim, Bangka-Belitung's provisional governor, said he was lobbying the central government to make Pangkal Pinang an international gateway to help attract foreign tourists.

Negotiations are currently being held with representatives of Silk Air from Singapore and Pelangi Air from Malaysia on introducing flight services from Singapore and Johor Bahru, respectively, to Pangkal Pinang, he said.

Johnnie Soegiarto, president of Eljohn Group, who owns a hotel chain in Indonesia, including Parai Indah Hotel, told the Post that he was happy about the plan to introduce new flight services, but at the same time concerned about its implications.

"Bangka is not yet ready to become a single destination for foreign tourists because it lacks proper facilities to support, for example cultural performances, museums, or its pewter and handicraft industries," he said.

Johnnie said that although Bangka is one of the world's largest tin producers, the pewterware sold here are both poorly designed and packaged.

"The pewter industry in Bangka is far behind its counterpart in Selangor, Malaysia, which is also a big tin producer," he said.

"Tourists to Bangka will be easily bored if they cannot find good entertainment centers. If they only want to enjoy the seaside, why should they travel all the way to Bangka for it?" he asked.

Johnie is of the opinion that it is better for the local government to enhance Bangka's supporting facilities, with the participation of the local people, before striving to promote the island overseas.

"We should seek advise of professionals and people who have had experience in tourist industry to improve the conditions here," he said. "It's time now for the local officials to discard their bureaucrat mentality. Set up facilities in line with international requirements. It's no longer an era for them to push for what they want, but to take into consideration the actual demand."

Johnnie said his hotel was trying to promote the island to as many locals and expatriates in Indonesia as possible.

"We are aggressively campaigning in Palembang and Jakarta especially," he said.

"Such promotions are much cheaper than campaigning overseas. It only needs a small capital, but gives great returns," he said, adding that there is no cultural shock for people from Palembang and Jakarta visiting Bangka.

"The domestic tourists will have no problems with food, accommodation or language," he said.

"If one in 10 persons in Palembang visits Bangka for example, we would have attracted 200,000 people of its two million population," he calculated.

If a visitor stays for three nights and spends at least about Rp 100,000, what a big revenue it will be, he said.

He said tourist arrivals would automatically turn the economic wheel of the island as it would have a multiplying effect. For example, during their stay, they will eat at restaurants, use the public transportation, buy souvenirs and so on and so forth.

Johnnie warned that inviting foreign tourists without preparing adequate services and facilities would have a boomerang effect in that those disappointed with their vacation in Bangka would discourage others from visiting the island.

Separately, A. Syarief S., spokesman of the Pangkal Pinang office of state Bank Mandiri, shared Johnnie's concern on the planned introduction of direct flights from Pangkal Pinang to Singapore and Malaysia.

"As a banker I have to thoroughly consider its advantages and disadvantages. Will the flights be economically viable? Will there be enough passengers using these routes?" he asked.

In other words, the ambitious plan has to be supported by a comprehensive feasibility study so as to prevent the project from ending in failure.

If this is so, making Bangka a major tourist destination is still a distant dream. (hhr)