Redefining Jakarta's electronic frontier

By Adrian Gunadi

JAKARTA (JP): As technology and public awareness continue to expand in the modern era, traditional emblems may no longer be enough to establish the identity of a country. So what better way to break into the global community than with a web page on the Internet?

As a developing country, Indonesia has had a strong tradition in marketing its natural resources. Yet in the past decade, tourism has grown to play an increasing role in earning national revenue, moving well into the five largest sources of income.

In an effort to continue promoting this recent trend, the Jakarta City Tourism Office has entered into an agreement with the Pacific Century Associates to produce an official Internet site for Jakarta. Both parties launched Sunday a marketing campaign to set up the web page under the Discover Jakarta brand through a variety of other media forms, including books and brochures.

"We sincerely look forward to showing you why Jakarta is one of the most talked about and exciting visitor destinations in the dynamic Asia Pacific region," said Chief of the Tourism Office Fauzi Bowo. The Discover Jakarta website, at http://www.discover- jakarta.com, remains one of the key aspects in fulfilling this objective, by building a positive and inviting image of Indonesia's capital city.

"Our mission is to promote trade, tourism and industry through an electronic magazine format," said Mary Jane Edleson of Pacific Century E-Media. "But the focus will remain on metropolitan Jakarta."

The Discover Jakarta site provides an extensive list of features designed to accommodate both domestic and overseas interests. From the main menu, selections are made and branch out into more specific areas of information -- from economic news to the latest selection of shopping malls. To help initiate beginners, a "Virtual Tour" loads up a slide show of the best that Jakarta has to offer. In contrast, using the RealAudio feature will allow users to hear correct pronunciation of Indonesian phrases.

For a more casual browse, the "Spices" and "Specials" segments offer a database of current events and general points of interest. The "List" feature, on the other hand, provides something for the curious explorer and the Jakarta resident alike. An index of hotels, restaurants, embassies, services, travel information and emergency help provide a wealth of information.

In the nine months that the site has been running, it has won outstanding awards from search engines like Yahoo and Webcrawler. On average, the site receives three to five thousand hits per day.

The Indonesian government will also continue to support the Internet page through its varied marketing activities. E-Media also intends to promote the site online through international search engines and by linking up with other sites in Jakarta.

In the next month, the web page will undergo a host of new additions that will enhance the experience. A search engine devoted to the site will be able to compile information from the Discover Jakarta database at the request of users, while the "Special Feature" section will include weekly updates of miscellaneous topics. There are also plans to add a "Meet the People" feature, where users can view facts and pictures on local Jakartans. Page visitors will also have the ability to initiate Jakarta-based programs or even add their own classified advertisements to the site itself.

The site's development will continue well into this year, with plans to translate the page into Japanese and Indonesian. E-Media also hopes to provide hotel business centers with access to the Discover Jakarta database.

The Discover Jakarta web page has clearly established Indonesia at the forefront of modern technology, in creating an image of Jakarta which will do credibility to both the growing interest in tourism and the country as a whole. In many ways, it represents the future of Indonesia not only as a political and economical competitor, but also as a pioneer on the electronic frontier.