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)