New minister's daunting task is to lure back visitors
New minister's daunting task is to lure back visitors
For more than three decades, the government has been trying in
vain to make Indonesia the hottest tourist spot in the region.
Thwarting its grand ambition is a poor management system,
combined with the lack of a promotional budget and clumsily
handled campaigns. The Jakarta Post's Rita A. Widiadana
and Tantri Yuliandini met with new tourism minister
I Gede Ardika to find out what he plans to do to tackle the
country's old and new tourism woes.
JAKARTA (JP): The only consistency in the government's tourism
policy over the years has been its conspicuous inability to
implement a focused and coherent one.
The status of the official tourism office has changed and
overlapped with other government sections since it was
established in the early 1980s.
It was once fused in the Ministry of Tourism, Post and
Telecommunications. A few years later, tourism was overviewed by
the Ministry of Tourism and Arts, and then the state minister of
tourism and arts.
In the current Cabinet, tourism is now under the auspices of
the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Implementing each tourism drive depends also on who heads the
ministry.
Past tourism ministers came from all walks of life, including
high-ranking officers in the Army, art lovers and businessmen.
Unfortunately, not all of the ministers had a clear vision on how
to develop the country's tourism.
Employees at the ministry have their own jokes about their
former chiefs. One minister was remembered as a businessman who
knew very little about tourism and who kept coming late to the
office. He spent most of his term holding business meetings with
his colleagues in his luxurious and spacious office.
The appointment of career bureaucrat, I Gede Ardika, is
expected to activate the ministry's efforts to boost the
country's tourism.
Born in Singaraja, North Bali, in 1945, Ardika has spent most
of his career in tourism. He graduated from the Bandung Hotel
Institute in 1964 and continued his graduate studies in hotel
management in Glion, Switzerland. Ardika also studied tourism
planning at Bradford University in the United Kingdom.
The father of two daughters was director of the Tourism and
Hotel Institute in Nusa Dua from 1978 to 1985 before joining the
Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications in 1986. Between
1998 and 2000, he was the director general for tourism.
Question: How do you feel about being appointed a minister when tourism
in the country is in such a dismal condition?
Answer: It is my fate to hold this position at this critical time. In
2001, we will concentrate on restoring Indonesia's tarnished
image in the world. I admit this is a very hard job. We have been
trying to promote Indonesia as safe and secure, but unpredictable
incidents occur again and again. The last blow was the sweep for
American tourists in Surakarta, in addition to the unrest in East
Timor, Maluku and Aceh.
Q: As a new minister, what are your concepts on tourism?
A: From the very beginning, Indonesia has had a community-based
tourism concept in which people play important roles in any
tourism activities.
We try to build a balanced concept which is in line with our
philosophical ideas and ideology. What I mean with this concept
is a balance between individual and community life -- mentally as
well as physically.
It also means a balance in managing our natural and human
resources, in utilizing, managing and preserving them.
Actually, our ancestors practiced these concepts hundreds of
years ago. It is quite awkward that people in the West are now
trying to teach us about sustainable tourism.
Indonesia is known as a religious society. Therefore we build
our tourism based on our religious beliefs. This means that we
are not building tourism which is against our social and moral
values.
Other countries may have different concepts and we have to
respect them.
For sure, we are not going to make gambling a main tourist
attraction in order to get money and to lure tourists.
Q: Could you be more specific?
A: There will be no more stories that our tourism merely seeks
foreign exchange while sacrificing the basic concept.
Visitors coming to Indonesia are mostly impressed by its
warmhearted people, as well as the natural and cultural richness.
And therefore, we must focus on involving the community in
tourism and convince them they are stakeholders in the industry.
Maintenance and preservation of nature and culture are
obligatory.
The development of the tourism infrastructure and supporting
facilities is important but it should benefit the people and not
endanger the environment.
Q: But, in fact, our current tourism policy has yet to reflect
such an ideal framework. Tourism has so far benefited only
certain people. What is your opinion?
A: We can objectively portray our current effort in developing
tourism which is, unfortunately, not in line with the original
concept.
Our present tourism policy stresses more on growth that brings
a trickle-down effect. This means that we focus first on
accelerating tourism growth and the rest will follow.
I can also say that tourism facilities are mostly run by
conglomerates. They are the ones who benefit most from the
industry, while the community gains very little or almost nothing
at all.
We want to drastically change the policy by empowering the
people to actively take part in the industry. It is expected that
growth will increase and at the same time people will also enjoy
a profitable business.
Q: How can people gain from tourism?
A: Tourism has a very significant multiplier effect. In terms of
scale and space, tourism can reach the most remote areas.
Take for example, people living on a faraway island or in an
isolated mountainous area. They can still benefit from the
industry through ecotourism programs.
By developing marine tourism, we can reach remote islands.
Tourism also has a tremendous impact on the development of
other sectors such as agriculture and handicrafts,
transportation, hotels, etc.
For example, if tourists come, they may need a large quantity
of poultry, fruit, meat, fish and other agricultural products.
They also need hotels, transportation and entertainment
facilities.
If tourism grows well, it can also boost growth in other
sectors.
Tourism embraces entire groups of society, from the lowest of
the middle class to the upper class. It may absorb millions of
workers.
As a simple illustration, when a large-scale business group
builds hotels and other facilities, they have to hire people of
different education levels. They may need university graduates to
fill in managerial positions, but they also require people with a
lower level of education to work as room boys.
To an extreme, people with no educational background can still
contribute to the development of the industry -- take street
vendors selling food and handicrafts. They are all the backbones
of the industry.
Tourism could become one of the most viable sectors which
survives in this time of crisis. We have natural resources and
hotels, we don't need to invest more. We are just waiting for
tourists to come.
Q: Would a community-based tourism eliminate the roles of large-
scale businesses?
A: They are still expected to help small-scale businesses run
their activities. There was an imbalance in business activities
in the past in which the industry only involved the big fish.
They are encouraged to set up mutual partnerships with
individuals or small-scale businesspeople to boost the industry.
It is not a charitable action but this is a part of the
process of production which creates mutual benefits for both
parties.
A five-star hotel, for instance, can cooperate with
traditional cakemakers or local food vendors to produce a large
variety of delicious and hygienic traditional food.
The hotel doesn't have to hire a professional chef with a very
high salary. It should only train them about hygiene and
packaging the food to meet nutritious and aesthetic standards.
If a hotel can train about 10 local food vendors, how many
common people can benefit from such programs, and how much money
can the hotel save?
Large-scale hotels are also able to train owners of motels and
youth hostels to improve their services and facilities.
We often find local or privately run motels are managed poorly
by the owners. Rooms are gloomy and dirty, the food is bad.
By improving the services of such small-scale hotels or
motels, big hoteliers have made a great contribution to the
industry.
It is not obligatory for hoteliers or other related tourist
businesses to do these activities. But the government will
include the activities as "plus-points" during certification. The
government is reviewing the classification of hotels in
Indonesia.
Q: Are there any crash programs to accelerate tourism?
A: There are five basic programs to be implemented in the tourism
sector. The first priority is a partnership program between
large-scale and small-scale tourist businesses, marketing,
promotion and diversification of tourist products.
The government also plans to open representative offices in
some major target countries in Japan, the United States and
Europe.
Human resources development becomes very important. We have to
provide international-standard training and evaluation to produce
a qualified and competent workforce.
The government will also concentrate on the development of
marine-based tourism. For the time being, tourist products are
mostly land-based facilities.
In the future, we have to base them on marine (activities).
Indonesia is geographically a maritime country with rich marine
resources.
Historically, Indonesians were shaped as "land people" instead
of a seafaring nation. It was part of a strategy launched by the
colonial government to prevent people on the islands from
communicating with each other.
Q: As the government only has a meager budget for tourism
promotion, how can it be effective?
A: The government must work together with the private sector.
Promotional efforts must be carried out by all elements involved
in tourism.
Each element has its own job. The government's main duty is to
do destination and image promotions in foreign countries, and we
don't sell certain hotels like the Hilton or Hyatt.
What is most important for the government is to create an
image that Indonesia is a nice and appealing place to visit.
The private sector can promote their specific products but
both the government and the private sector must coordinate to
effectively do promotion campaigns.
Due to a limited budget, the government can only invite a
small number of foreign tour operators to visit Indonesia and to
see what is really happening here. The frequent news coverage on
Indonesia by foreign media is sometimes exaggerated.
Indonesia is a large country. Strife-torn areas are far from
the capital city of Jakarta and other popular tourist
destinations like Bali.
In line with the government's plan to implement regional
autonomy in every sector, including tourism, provincial and
regional administrations have the right to promote their
respective tourist attractions using regional budgets.
Q: What kind of tourism is in the frame of regional autonomy?
A: Basically, the implementation of regional autonomy is a
manifestation of democracy in which people in every respective
area have the right to express their aspirations and to determine
their own lives.
The central government will hand over its authority to
regional and provincial administrations including the issuance of
licenses for the operation of tourist businesses, technical and
consultation guidance, monitoring and enforcement of laws.
The division of revenue between the central and regional
governments will be regulated by law.
The law also mentions that natural tourist attractions on
land, sea and in other places will belong to the regional
authority. The development of tourist attractions will be managed
by both provincial and regional administrations.
This also includes promotional activities. Each regency is now
able to determine its major tourist attractions and to decide its
markets.
Physically, according to the law, all tourist attractions are
controlled by the regional administration. A tourist resort,
which is located in more than one regency, will be controlled by
a provincial government.
Q: Are local governments ready to receive this huge
responsibility and authority?
A: Everyone always asks this question. In my opinion, we can no
longer delay the transfer of authority. We used to postpone
autonomy because we were afraid that regional governments and
related agencies were not ready. If we keep on asking ourselves
whether we are ready or not, the answer will be no.
It is true that some of my colleagues in regional areas are
not well-prepared. Our main priority in 2001 is to upgrade human
resources at the regional level. But because of a lack of funds,
we will first focus on provinces which have a robust tourism.
We also have to precisely identify the possible problems that
might appear during the implementation of regional autonomy.
Q: How do you see the outlook for tourism in 2001?
A: I really hope we can gradually solve our national problems --
economic, social and political, as well as the security issue.
We cannot attract visitors if the condition in our country is
still in chaos. All parties are required to show their strong
commitment to create a safe and attractive Indonesia.