Promo tour sheds light on tourism industry

Promo tour sheds light on tourism industry

The Amazing Jogya Road Show, which recently toured Malaysia and Singapore, aimed to promote the tourist industry in Yogyakarta. The Jakarta Post's Sri Wahyuni was invited to join the road show, which was jointly organized by national flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia, the Tourist Industry Association (ASITA) and the Yogyakarta administration. This is the first of a three-part series on the event.

It was a bright Sunday afternoon at the Central Market shopping center in Kuala Lumpur when a group of Indonesian musicians, singers, dancers and models drew a crowd with their cultural performance.

The crowd, mostly consisting of young and middle-aged Malaysians, watched with enthusiasm a performance that presented a blend of traditional music, dance, song and a fashion show of mostly batik designs.

So eager was the audience, some members jumped up on the stage to sing or dance together with the singers once the show's master of ceremonies invited them to do so.

"This is only a small part of what we can offer back home. When you visit Yogya, you're bound to see a lot more," Indro "Kimpling" Suseno told the audience while leading the performance that afternoon, inviting Malaysians to come and visit Yogyakarta.

The event was part of "The Amazing Yogya Roadshow: Singapore to Kuala Lumpur" a promotional tour organized by the provincial government of Yogyakarta with the support of Garuda Indonesia Airlines and the Association of Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA) in Yogyakarta.

Some 70 delegates -- tour operators, hotel management, entertainers, local government officials and journalists -- joined the six-day tour held from May 21 to May 26, with a two- day program in Singapore, a three days in Kuala Lumpur and a day in Melaka, Malaysia.

During the roadshow, a set of programs was held both in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. The most important one was the "tabletop" promotional gathering, in which representatives from participating tourism-related businesses met face-to-face with potential local buyers from both countries.

"The response so far was quite promising, especially regarding the number of local potential buyers coming to the gathering to know more about what we're offering," ASITA deputy chairwoman Yogyakarta Tusi Kuswenda said.

Although no deals were concluded during the meeting, according to Tusi, Malaysian tour operators expressed interest in sending both individual and group tours -- especially for golfers -- to Yogyakarta.

However, some in the tour were skeptical about the response, saying that besides expressing interest in sending tourists to the ancient city, operators in Malaysia implicitly tied this to a reciprocal hope of receiving tourists from Indonesia.

"Unfortunately, we found it difficult to give them a commitment to send tourists, mainly because of the existence of the government's fiscal charge regulation," said Ning R. Fadjri, Deputy Branch Manager of Sari Tours.

Ning was referring to the government tax of Rp 1 million levied on any Indonesian leaving the country. The tax had made it difficult for Yogyakarta operators to attract local tourists to go abroad.

"We're not asking the government to exempt travelers from the charge. However, a reduction to say only half the present charge, will significantly boost the tourism industry back home," Ning said.

Many operators said promotional activities would not instantly yield a direct increase in the number of tourist arrivals to Yogyakarta.

"It's a long-term investment, the results of which may only be felt in a few years. This accounts for why promotional activities should be conducted continuously," Garuda Indonesia Yogyakarta general manager Singgih Prawatyo said.

The establishment of Garuda's new international direct flights from Yogyakarta's Adisucipto Airport to Kuala Lumpur since February and to Singapore since March had motivated Yogyakarta's tourism community and the provincial government to conduct the road show.

"Unless something is done about it, the international direct flights will bring in nothing to Yogyakarta," provincial secretary Bambang Susanto Priyohadi said in Kuala Lumpur.

Bambang was accompanying Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, who joined the delegation in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur while on a separate visit to drum up business for the city.

Garuda is offering three direct flights a week on both the Yogyakarta-Kuala Lumpur and Yogyakarta-Singapore routes and has pledged to add more flights should demand increase.

Singgih Prawatyo and Bambang Susanto Priyohadi agreed the roadshow was a success. In Kuala Lumpur over 80 potential buyers attended the tabletop meeting, while the organizing committee had expected only half that number.

The same gathering held earlier in Singapore was also popular, with nearly 50 potential Singaporean buyers attending the event hosted by some 24 travel agencies and hotels operating in Yogyakarta.

The fashion show, which was performed by five of Yogyakarta's top models, presented the latest designs of noted Yogyakartan designers of national reputation -- Afif Syakur, Nita Azhar, and Ramadhani. Most of the designs presented at the shows contained batik elements, one of the Yogyakarta's leading handicrafts promoted during the roadshow.

Other performances included a traditional dance entitled Indonesia Mini -- compilation of a number of Indonesian styles including Javanese -- choreographed by Didik Nini Thowok's noted dance company.

"Now that the gate has been opened, it's time to work hard. The tourist industry needs synergies with related institutions, the stakeholders," Singgih said.