Tourism target is realistic: Executives

Tourism target is realistic: Executives

JAKARTA (JP): The government's target of 11 million foreign
tourists spending US$15 billion in Indonesia in 2005 is realistic
provided the government and companies work harder to develop the
industry, executives said yesterday.

"We have great potential to achieve the target but we must
work harder," Max Sahulata, vice president of Garuda Indonesia's
hotel operator PT Aerowisata, told The Jakarta Post.

The government expects tourism to become the country's biggest
foreign exchange earner, outperforming the oil and gas sector, by
the end of the Seventh Five Year Development Plan in 2004.

President Soeharto said over the weekend that Indonesia aimed
to receive 11 million visitors in 2005 who will spend $15
billion.

This is almost double the government's target of 6.5 million
tourist arrivals in 1999, the final year of the sixth development
plan.

But a government-sponsored tourism study team has set a much
lower target.

The team from University of Indonesia, Jakarta, University of
Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, and Bandung Institute of Technology
produced three tourist arrival targets for the next 20 years.

The team, called Rippnas, produced what it called optimistic,
moderate and pessimistic targets. Its optimistic projection is
10.67 million tourist arrivals in 2005. Its moderate projection
is 9.72 million and its pessimistic projection is 7.84 million.

The Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board's managing director,
Wuryastuti Sunario, questioned Indonesia's preparations for
accommodating such a large number of visitors.

"Theoretically, I don't see any problem in Indonesia receiving
11 million visitors by 2005 as our neighbors like Singapore and
Malaysia are already able to host some seven million tourists,"
Wuryastuti said.

"But we have to seriously look into the sustainability of such
large visitor numbers, especially if they are not spread out
across several destinations. For instance, in Bali which
accommodates some one million tourists a year some streets are
already heavily packed. What will happen in 2005 when visitor
arrivals reach as much as four million. The romanticism of Bali
will disappear if we construct a toll road to Kintamani," she
said.

Promotion

She said Indonesia should intensify its promotion of
destinations outside of Bali.

"Promotion will still be one of the best means to attract more
tourists and we need other locations to absorb them," she said,
adding that her board would continue to promote Bintan in Riau
and Yogyakarta, Surakarta in Central Java and other destinations.

Sahulata stressed that human resources must be developed to
manage a large number of visitors.

"We have to be more professional in handling tourism
businesses. Human resources is the most important thing," he
said.

He said that infrastructure and support facilities including
communications, transportation and health services were vital for
tourists: "Tourists will not come if they hear complaints about
these services."

Meity Robot, president of tour and travel agent PT Iwata,
agreed with the government's target.

"Based on the growth rate of tourist arrivals in the first
nine months of this year which exceeded 18 percent, or higher
than the estimated 11 percent to 17 percent increase, I believe
we can reach the target," she said.

"But we should manage our tourism industry in a more
professional manner. For example, the trend is now eco-tourism.
We really have to know how to sell eco-tourism products and
manage objects like coral reefs and reservation parks. We must
also educate our own people on how to manage these valuable
assets," she said. (icn)