Outward bound

Outward bound

From Neraca

In recent weeks, travel agencies have aggressively advertised
trips to Europe, the United States, Australia, even Africa. When
the school holidays or end-of-year vacation approach, newspapers
are filled with the travel ads to tempt students or their parents
to venture abroad.

Note that the foreign vacations are competitively priced. A
short stay of five days, including five-star hotel costs and
sightseeing tours, in Australia costs no more than Rp 1.5
million.

This is very cheap if compared to roundtrip airfares of nearly
Rp 1 million to Ambon or Banda Aceh in Indonesia. After all,
this does not include hotel and local transportation costs.

It is not surprising therefore if the general public,
youngsters included, opt to vacation abroad instead of visiting
relatives in Ambon or Banda Aceh.

In the future, many of our students, particularly those from
affluent families, will be more familiar with tourist attractions
in foreign lands than those in their own country.

I am appealing to the Director General of Tourism to look into
this disparity in prices. Don't let it happen that students from
wealthy families enjoy and know foreign lands better than their
own.

I trust this input will be of value to the Directorate General
of Tourism.

TAN SUN LAY

Bogor, West Java