Redefining Jakarta's electronic frontier
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.