Jakarta to seek 'icon' in bid to woo tourists
Jakarta to seek 'icon' in bid to woo tourists
Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
In an effort to revive Jakarta's tourism industry, the City
Tourism Agency will hold a souvenir competition to find an 'icon'
to represent the metropolis.
Agency head Aurora Tambunan said on Thursday that another goal
in holding the 'Icon Search Competition' was to attract both
domestic and foreign tourists to visit Jakarta.
"We hope to find the best and most unique souvenirs through
the competitions. The souvenirs will become icons of the city,"
she said.
She explained that attracting tourists to visit Jakarta was a
hard task as the city had experienced two major bombings; the
2003 Marriott bombing and this years explosion outside the
Australian Embassy.
"With distinctive icons, we can show non-Jakartans that the
city has a unique identity. This will make our job in attracting
tourists easier," she said.
The icons, which will be produced as souvenir items, are
expected to increase the number of international and domestic
tourists to 1.4 million and 9.5 million in 2005 respectively,
from 1.3 million and 9 million this year.
The competition will be held alongside the Jakarta Souvenir
Festival 2004 from Dec. 17 to Dec. 21 at the Pasar Festival on
Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said in Kuningan, South Jakarta.
Around 100 participants are taking part in three categories of
competition: garment and textiles, food industry, and wood and
metal.
Head of the jury Hartanto Priyohartono said the jurors would
use three criteria -- originality, innovative and identity -- in
determining the winners.
"The souvenirs will have to be unique, functional, easy to
carry, and have attractive packaging so that tourists will not
think twice about buying them," he said.
First, second and third place-getters in the three categories
will be awarded Rp 10 million (US$1,110), Rp 7.5 million and Rp 5
million respectively.
An overall winner will then be selected from the place-getters
and will receive Rp 15 million for his/her creativity in coming
up with unique souvenirs.
"We plan to hold the event annually so that every year we'll
have new icons with new designs and creativity," said Aurora.