Provinces' contribution to tourism still low

Provinces' contribution to tourism still low

JAKARTA (JP): Bali, the country's major tourist destination,
was the most reluctant province to contribute to the country's
tourist promotion, says a tourist executive.

Managing director of the Indonesia Tourism Promotion Board,
Wuryastuti Sunario, said yesterday Bali did not give the required
20 percent of its development tax to the Ministry of Tourism,
Post and Telecommunications.

Bali's administration in the last three and a half fiscal
years contributed Rp 4.39 billion (US$1.69 million) to the
ministry, or 11 percent of the targeted Rp 40.1 billion.

Wuryastuti said after publicizing the upcoming Tourism
Indonesia Mart and Expo that none of the provinces had given the
full amount required to the ministry.

Presidential Decree No. 6/1993 rules that the 10 most visited
provinces -- Jakarta, Bali, Yogyakarta, North and West Sumatra,
South and North Sulawesi, and West, East and Central Java -- must
impose a 10 percent tax on hotels and restaurants.

Twenty percent of the funds collected from this tax must be
passed to the tourism, post and telecommunications ministry.

The ministry channels the funds to the tourism promotion board
to promote tourism.

The board has been poorly financed over the past several years
and has had acute financial problems.

Data from the ministry shows it received Rp 60.39 billion from
development tax in the past three and a half fiscal years, or
about 30 percent of the targeted Rp 207 billion.

The ministry received Rp 12.07 billion in the first half this
year.

In the past three and half fiscal years, Jakarta gave the
ministry Rp 33.5 billion of its development tax, or 11 percent of
the targeted Rp 105.62 billion, Wuryastuti said.

And East Java had so far contributed Rp 8.58 billion or 63
percent of the targeted Rp 13.69 billion.

To market the country's tourism internationally, the tourism
promotion board, in cooperation with the Jakarta tourism agency
and the country's carrier Garuda Indonesia, will hold the fourth
Tourism Indonesia Mart and Expo in Jakarta from September 23 to
September 28 this year.

The annual event would be attended by local sellers consisting
of tourist agencies, hotels, resorts and buyers from
International travel companies, Wuryastuti said.

It was expected to attract 50,000 visitors and the transaction
value during the four days was expected to be 30 percent more
than last year, she said.

Last year, local companies made an average US$ 284,400 each
during the mart. And buyer companies spent about US$320,700 each,
she said.

So far 169 companies from 18 provinces in Indonesia had
registered as sellers at the mart and 158 companies from 31
countries had registered as buyers, she said. (das)