'Tourism in rehabilitation phase next year'
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
To resurrect the country's tourism industry after the tragic Bali bombing, the government will concentrate next year on the rehabilitation and normalization of the sector through quality improvement, aggressive marketing and regional cooperation.
State Minister of Culture and Tourism I Gede Ardika said the government was expecting that at by end of 2003 the country's tourism industry would regain its attractiveness for world travelers.
"The present difficulties will not affect the positive long term growth of the tourism industry, as in 2003 we will assure to the world travelers that Indonesia is a safe place to visit," said Ardika during a year-end press conference on Monday.
During the rehabilitation stage, which runs from January to June, the ministry has decided to set up a worldwide media campaign and promotion by allocating some Rp 41 billion (US$4.6 million).
Some Rp 10.4 billion is allocated to boost promotion through international media such as giant US-based networks, CNN, ABC, and CNBC.
The fund will also be used to set up a promotion agency in Japan, Australia and Europe by appointing public relations firms in those countries to handle the advertising and marketing campaign.
The ministry is allocating some Rp 10 billion for the programs.
Other important programs highlighted during the first half of 2003 will be quality improvement in which the ministry has allocated Rp 22.5 billion.
Some of the fund will be used to finance the deliberation of the tourism bill, the study on the development of cruise ships and a campaign for community-based tourism.
The fund will also be used to finance efforts to boost domestic tourism which last year contributed $7.7 billion of income to the tourism industry. Domestic tourists contribute higher income in comparison to international tourists which in 2001 only reached $5.5 billion.
At the second half of 2003, the government will move forward to another phase called the normalization period.
In this period the ministry plans to conduct an active bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation, organizing events and improving service standard.
Ardika expressed his optimism that the recovery program would run as planned and hoped that by 2004 Indonesia would have the ability to expand its tourism market from previous levels, he told the conference.
The government has estimated last week that foreign tourist arrivals would dip by 16.5 percent to 4.3 million this year compared to 5.15 million in 2001, due to the Bali bombing on Oct. 12.
The figure is the lowest number of foreign arrivals in six years.
Meanwhile, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said Monday that international visitors to Indonesia in October plunged 19.5 percent to 304,800 compared to September.
Foreign tourist arrivals in Bali in October also saw a decline from 157,000 in September to 87,000 in October.