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.