More tourists to come despite election: Minister

More tourists to come despite election: Minister

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government appears convinced that more tourists will come
here next year, playing down fears that the general election will
scare them off.

Minister of Culture and Tourism I Gede Ardika said he was
convinced that next year's general election would proceed
smoothly and not discourage tourists from visiting Indonesia.

"Our people are now more experienced with democracy. So, we
can reasonable expect the elections to be peaceful," he said.

The ministry has targeted 5 million tourist arrivals next
year, 15 percent higher than this year's estimated figure of 4.4
million. It is hoped that the contribution of tourism to the
country's foreign exchange earnings will be US$5 billion next
year, 25 percent higher than this year's estimated contribution
of $4 billion.

Initially, the government had targeted between 4.5 million and
4.8 million tourist arrivals this year, but it later revised the
target down to 4.4 million due the impact of the severe acute
respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak and fears of terrorism in
Indonesia.

In the first ten months of the year, tourist arrivals at 13
entry points across the country reached 3.02 million, a 15.4
percent decrease over the same period next year.

Most visitors were from Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.

Commenting on the impact of the government's plan to replace
the visa-free facility with a visa-on-arrival scheme for a number
of countries, Ardika said the plan was still up in the air as no
decision had been made by the Cabinet on the implementation of
the new visa policy.

The new visa policy was proposed by Minister of Justice and
Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra several months ago, but the
government has appeared reluctant to implement it due to strong
protests from many parties.

Under Yusril's proposal, visitors from 48 countries, including
Japan and Australia, the largest sources of tourists for
Indonesia, would no longer enjoy visa-free facilities. Instead,
they would have to apply for visas on arrival at their Indonesian
port of entry.

Even if the government finally decided to implement the new
visa policy, Ardika said he was optimistic that more tourists
would come to the country next year, although he failed to
explain how this would happen.

He only said: "We will have to work hard to reach the target."

Next year, the government would be eyeing additional visitors
from Russia, the Middle East and China.

"We are now better able to understand the needs of tourists
from these regions.

"In the past, for instance, we thought people from the Middle
East enjoyed pilgrimage tours. In fact, they prefer visiting tea
plantations," the minister said.

Ardika also said the government would also focus on cruises in
its marketing campaigns, and would explore the potential of small
islands across the country in attracting tourists.

"We shall prepare a number of cruises, such as the Wakatobi-
Tomini-Togean-Pangkep island route in Sulawesi and the Weh-Nias
island route in Sumatra," he said.

He also said that state ferry operator Pelni was now preparing
to enter the cruise business to support the program.