SIA to help promote Indonesian tourism
JAKARTA (JP): Singapore Airlines (SIA) pledged on Thursday to spend US$3 million over the next two years to promote Indonesia in high potential tourist markets in Europe, the United States and Asia.
Executive vice president Michael Tan said the money would go toward helping the Indonesian tourism industry participate in international tourism fairs, inviting travel agents and foreign journalists to visit Indonesia, promotions through SIA's inflight magazine, website and inflight videos and also advertising Indonesian attractions in key overseas markets.
"Singapore Airlines is looking for a win-win situation, all of us have a common objective in developing the market to Singapore and Indonesia," Tan said.
He was speaking at a media briefing after signing a memorandum of agreement on a joint tourism promotion program with the Office of the State Minister of Tourism and Arts, which was represented by Deputy Minister for Marketing and International Relations Udin Saifuddin.
SIA's vice president for marketing communications and development Chia Boon Kuah said the program would also involve other carriers, such as Singapore's Silk Air and Indonesia's Garuda Indonesia, Merpati Nusantara and Mandala Airlines to help extend tourism to other destination points besides Denpasar, Jakarta and Surabaya, which are served by SIA aircraft.
SIA's route network reaches 93 destinations in 43 countries, serving Asia, Europe, North America, the Middle East, the South West Pacific and Africa.
"Indonesia could share the benefits of this network," State Minister of Tourism and Arts Djaelani Hidajat, who witnessed the signing ceremony, said.
It is not clear whether the agreement is part of a follow up to January's visit to Jakarta by Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong where he launched a joint tourism promotion program between the two countries.
In 1994, SIA signed a similar agreement with the then ministry for tourism to promote Indonesia extensively in Singapore and in several tourism markets in Europe and Asia.
Indonesia's tourism suffered in 1998 because of the economic and political crises, and tourist arrivals only slightly recovered last year.
Visitor arrivals from 13 main entry points in Indonesia numbered 3.9 million in 1999, and the projected arrivals from all points was targeted at 5.2 million this year, Udin said.
"I'm sure we will reach this target as demand seems to have rebounded," he said.
Tan also announced that starting next week, SIA would revert to its precrisis number of eight flights a day on its Singapore- Jakarta route.
The airline was also negotiating with Indonesia to increase its three flights a day to Denpasar, Bali, to four flights a day, he said.
SIA General Manager Indonesia Raja Segran signed a separate agreement with the Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies (ASITA), represented by chairwoman Meity Robot, which calls on the airline to assist in education and training programs.
SIA will contribute Rp 3 billion to help increase the skills of some 1,200 middle and junior managers of small and medium- sized travel enterprises, through a three-year training program.
The program will commence next month and will involve trainers from SIA's Commercial Training Center, the Center for Travel Related Studies Singapore and the Quality Service Center Indonesia. (10)