Rerouting of domestic flights to support tourism industry

JAKARTA (JP): The planned rerouting of domestic flights, which will offer direct services to several destinations, will support the growth of the tourism industry, Director General of Tourism Andi Mappi Sammeng said yesterday.

He told a two-day workshop on tourism product improvement at Hotel Wisata International that direct air links between remote cities will be very helpful for both domestic and foreign tourists.

He acknowledged that many air services still force passengers to stop at transit points.

The Ministry of Transportation has completed a plan to revise domestic airline routes to help reduce costs for passengers due to inefficient flight operations. The realigned routes, including 14 new domestic routes served by the country's six scheduled airlines, however, have not yet been announced.

The rerouting, for example, will introduce direct flights between Medan in North Sumatra and Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi with no stopover in Jakarta.

Andi also said that each of the country's 27 provinces should establish special tourism packages focusing on specialties.

"Each province can arrange, at least, two sorts of tour packages, including a one-day city sightseeing tour and a longer tour," he said.

He also said that each tourism destination should promote its tourism products in other parts of the country because domestic visitors can also support the growth of the tourism industry.

Frustration

Meanwhile, president of the Japan Travel Bureau Indonesia, Seiichiro Sakaguchi, said yesterday that most Japanese tourists visiting Indonesia have been frustrated in facing three factors, including funare, meaning not accustomed to, fushinsetsu, meaning unkind people, and fuben, meaning lack of convenience.

He said that several tourists from Japan, one of the major markets for Indonesia's tourism industry, for example, need about four hours to complete immigration processes, baggage claim, airport check-in, hotel reception, baggage deliveries, food and drink orders, and hotel check-out.

"The worst is the frequent delay of flights," he said.

He also said tourism-related personnel in Indonesia mostly lack tourism information.

"I have made a personal survey by asking for information from hotel concierge, licensed guides, travel agents and other people supposed to be able to give enough and correct information. The results of the survey indicated that only 53 percent of their answers were correct," he said.

Sakaguchi said that in the survey, his questions were related to the opening hours and entrance fees of the Indonesia in Miniature Park, taxi fares in Jakarta, regular sightseeing buses in capital, restaurants with folk dances and city maps.(icn)