West Java finds it hard to bring in tourists

West Java finds it hard to bring in tourists

By Grace Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): Elements of West Java have played a significant
role in the tourist industry. Sundanese music is frequently heard
in numerous international hotels, spas and restaurants in Bali.
While, from the human resources side, many hoteliers and tour
operators in the country are graduates of tourism schools or
other education institutes in Bandung, the province's capital.
Even white-water rafting guides on Bali's famous Ayung River were
trained on the Citarik River in West Java.

Ironically, West Java has been left behind Bali and other
Indonesia tourism venues in attracting international tourists.

Memet Hamdan, director of the provincial tourism office
recently said that only 320,000 international tourists visited
the province last year -- far less than 10 percent of about 5
million tourists visiting Indonesia in 1999.

Promotion is not the main culprit, though it has not been
carried out with full efforts. But at least there are always
representatives from the province's tourism industry at
international travel exhibitions, either at the International
Tourist Bourse in Berlin, the Asian Tourism Forum or the World
Travel Mart in London. West Java also takes an active part in
Indonesia-based international travel marts like Tourism Mart and
Expo, held in Jakarta since 1995, and in the latest of which,
West Java was ranked number three for having sold the largest
number of packages and tours, after Bali and Jakarta.

Some national tour operators have said that products and
infrastructure are the main hindrances, especially for the
European market.

Michael Wandow, product manager of PACTO Ltd., one of the
oldest inbound tours operators in Indonesia, said that he can
only bring his European guests for a maximum of one night to West
Java on the popular Java Overland Tour's program. The tourists
usually continue their journey to Yogyakarta the day after, and
spend three nights or more in that cultural city as it has
various historical sites and temples to be explored. While in
West Java, they are only taken to traditional spots like Mount
Tangkuban Perahu, the Ciater hot springs and Mang Ujo's angklung
(bamboo instrument) orchestra.

"We can't take them to other places. We recently tried to
explore the possibility of selling Pelabuhan Ratu. But the road
is bumpy and there are no other attractions available besides a
beach. Yes, there's cave, but it's quite dirty and not well
maintained," said Wandow.

Herman Rukmandi, deputy chairman of the West Java Association
of Indonesian Tour & Travel Agencies (ASITA) and also managing
director of Bhara Tour, one of the biggest inbound tour operators
in West Java, shared the same idea.

"I have to admit that West Java is only a stopover destination
for most of my traditional (European) guests. However, I can keep
them here for two nights as it is the maximum length of time for
them to spend. During this short time, there should be many good
products to sell -- not just a few.

"Besides taking them to traditional places, we could take them
to the beautiful Kawah Putih (Wide Crater) in Ciwidey, south of
Bandung. Also to the crater of Mount Papandayan and the
Geological Museum, which is probably the best and most complete
one available in Southeast Asia. But we cannot visit those places
at the moment, except for few special-interest tours, because of
the terrible traffic jams and the (proper) infrastructure is
unavailable. The 32-kilometer road to Papandayan's crater is
bumpy and there is no wider road available to Kawah Putih."

Another hurdle is the nonexistence of international flights.
Since before the crisis, no international flights have been
available to or from this city.

The still-tarnished international image of the country also
contributes to the lack of international tourist visits to West
Java.

Luckily, there is still a ray of hope, which is getting
brighter. Memet said that Merpati Nusantara will provide flights
from Singapore to Bandung this coming October. Merpati will use
its Fokker 100, with a capacity of 94 seats, to bridge the two
cities.

Meanwhile, discussions are underway with Malaysia's Pelangi
Air to open a route from Johor to Bandung. Memet believes these
flights will spur international visits to the province.

Shopping

From the product point of view, Memet says that Bandung will
be promoted as a shopping mecca. ASEAN and Middle East countries,
whose people like shopping, are the main target markets.

On this stance, Majed Ali Khan, Eastern area sales manager of
Kuwait Airways, noted on a recent familiarization trip to Java
and Bali that the typical Middle East market is a family-oriented
one which prefers shop and go on sightseeing tours amid lush
green scenery. "We don't have anything like that back home," said
Khan.

Ameriawati Atmadibrata, head of the Commerce and Industry
Division of the West Java chapter of ASITA, added her view on
this: "Customers go to Singapore for shopping. But those used to
shopping abroad will find that shopping in Bandung is much
cheaper than other places, especially for garments."

As far as textiles are concerned, Bandung is the cornerstone
of Indonesia' textile industry. There are 425 textile factories
surrounding the city (not including garment factories),
amounting to more than 55 percent of 750 textile factories in the
country.

Ecotourism

West Java will also boost ecotourism, especially geotourism.
The province has 23 volcanoes, 17 of which are still active.

"Ecotourism does not need sophisticated facilities. The
directorate general of geology has give the green light. Some
volcanoes, including the active ones like Tangkuban Perahu and
Papandayan, will be tourism sites," said Memet.

This is supported by the recent confirmation of Anyer, a
tourism spot in western part of West Java, to host the next PATA
(Pacific Asia Travel Association) Adventure Travel & Ecotourism
Conference and Mart in 2002.

Another event to boost dollars is the MICE sector (Meeting,
Incentive, Convention & Exhibition). According to Nyoman S.
Pendit in his book Wisata Konvensi (Convention Tourism), a
conference participant usually spends US$210 per day during a
duration of four days. This amount is two or three times higher
than that spent by tourists.

Though facilities have been added to support this MICE sector
(the province has now the 4,000-seat Sasana Budaya Ganesha), some
MICE organizers regard them as not yet enough.

"At the moment, West Java is not our main priority for holding
large-scale international conferences," admitted Weilin Han,
assistant director of PACTO CONVEX, which organized the
Ministerial Meeting of Non-Aligned Countries and the 40th
Commemoration of the Asia Africa Declaration in Bandung in 1995.

"It's the fifth option after Bali, Jakarta, Yogyakarta and
Surabaya. Lack of accessibility and facilities are the main
reasons. But Bandung, Bogor and Anyer have been good venues for
small- and medium-scale corporate meetings. While for the bigger
international-scale conferences, we would be glad to add our
choice of venues should there be improvement in those two
sectors" said Weilin.

To overcome all the hurdles mentioned above, a word from Myra
P. Gunawan, a senior researcher at the Center for Research on
Tourism at Bandung's Institute of Technology, should probably be
taken into consideration. "Promotion is solely useless should the
products not be ready. And product development is a total
combination of all ingredients, including more coordination,
joint agreements and real action among all parties involved in
creating, developing and selling."

It seems it is high time for the province' many parties to sit
together and discuss ways of achieving a holy grail of the most
promising field in the world: Tourism.

The writer is the Indonesia correspondent for a Singapore-
based tourism publication. She can be contacted at
egrace@cbn.net.id.