Urban tourism explored in Bandung

Urban tourism explored in Bandung

By Myra Gunawan

BANDUNG (JP): When people talk about tourism, they usually
think of beach resorts or mountain getaways. It is also true
among scholars; only since the 1990s has urban tourism gained
significant and growing attention.

Urban tourism is almost always underestimated and
misunderstood. The complexities of the urban tourism phenomena
have also led to it receiving less publicity.

What makes a city attractive for visitors depends on the
regional, national or international functions attributed to the
city, in terms of the nature of its economic, political or
sociocultural profiles.

The city of Bandung is only one among other cities in
Indonesia, including Jakarta, Denpasar, Makassar, Medan and
Surabaya, which are involved in tourism. The large cities
function as international gateways.

Bandung was founded as early as 1810 when the capital of the
regency was moved south from the old town to the existing city
square, the present place of residence for the mayor. The
municipality was established in 1906 when Bandung was accorded
the status by the Dutch government.

Bandung was developed to accommodate the Dutch planters, and
many facilities were created to make the city functioning and
attractive. Government offices, mosques and churches, housing of
many types, shopping streets, higher education institutions,
places for social and cultural activities and hotels and
restaurants were established. Known as the Paris of Java, Bandung
was the city the Dutch visited instead of returning on leave to
their homeland; it was also popular among Indonesians, who called
it "Kota Kembang" (Flower City) for the beauty of its natural
surroundings and women.

Bandung is still a favorite destination today, but from
different sources of visitors. Its universities are nationally
renowned, and students bring in additional visitors of their
relatives and friends. The city is also increasingly well-known
as a site for seminars.

Business travelers also flock to the West Java capital, which
is in the heart of Indonesian textile country and the hub for the
telecommunications industry.

And, as with the days of Dutch colonialism, Bandung remains a
favorite spot to visit because of its cool climate.

Unfortunately, there is no single source of information on
visitor arrivals in the city. However, there are several
indicators that can be used to gain a view of the city as far as
tourism is concerned.

Bandung today has 41 classified and 121 nonclassified hotels
plus 36 guesthouses with total capacity of 7,911 rooms. Assuming
an average annual occupancy rate of just 40 persons and 1.5
persons per room, it would add up to about 1.7 million
guestnights.

What is also interesting is the fact that more than half of
the hotel room capacity was built after 1990; almost 60 percent
of classified and 50 percent of nonclassified hotel rooms were
built during the 1990s. Hotel chains such as the Sheraton,
Horison, Chedi, Holiday Inn, Aquila and Hyatt arrived during
these years. To a certain extent, the boom in new hotels led to
older hotels losing part of their business.

There are no records of how many international tourists visit
Bandung; hotel guest statistics do not differentiate
expatriate/foreign residents from international travelers. For
Indonesians, a sample survey found that less than 20 percent
stayed in hotels; the rest stayed with relatives and friends, or
in their weekend homes in the city.

From a sample survey of 937 respondents at various hotels,
places of interest and city gateways, most of the visitors were
from West Java (36 percent) and Jakarta (32 percent). Those
coming from the outer islands make up less than 10 percent. More
than half of the classified hotel guests come from Jakarta.

Most of the visitors to Bandung are repeaters, like the
Jakarta residents who want to get away from the heat and hectic
pace of life with a stay in Bandung. What is unusual is that the
conventional tourism resources do not attract visitors as such.
Museum are visited only by students, because they are ordered to
do so, and historical places attract very few foreigners.

The survey also indicates that shopping is popular among hotel
guest respondents, with 80 percent of them visiting shops. From
the popular "jeans street" of Cihampelas, there has developed the
factory outlets, now all the rage for visitors.

The author is the founder of the Center for Research on
Tourism, Institute of Technology, Bandung.