Wither Indonesian tourism?

Wither Indonesian tourism?
Saving Indonesia's tourist industry

By Imam Syafii

JAKARTA (JP): With the appointment of Indonesia's new
president and vice president, followed by the installment of the
Gotong Royong Cabinet, the country's tourist industry hopes the
new government will bring political stability and economic
growth.

It is also time to call for synergy among the authorities and
tourist-related associations to promote Indonesia's name and
mission to a wider audience, instead of performing individual
promotional stints, which only highlight particular regions.

A good example is the recent setup of the Asian Hotels
Alliance (AHA), which includes Dusit Hotels and Resorts
(Thailand), Landis Hotels and Resorts (Taiwan), Marcopolo Hotel
Group (Hong Kong), Meritus Hotels and Resorts (Singapore) and New
Otani Hotels (Japan). AHA aims at combining the marketing
strengths of each member hotel. A similar concept was established
earlier in Bali, featuring cooperation, in terms of promotion and
information exchange, among the hotels in the Tuban area.

Signs of a stronger mission from the tourist industry is also
reflected by the joining of forces among the Indonesia Tourism
Community and Jakarta Promotion under the coordination of the
state minister of culture and tourism. This cooperation aims at
creating something unique yet exquisite, given the country's rich
culture heritage.

Further action to be given serious consideration is the
development of an annual sales and promotion action plan, which
can be broken down into monthly targets. The media must be
involved to balance views on the political and security
situation, so that not only Bali is promoted but also the whole
country.

Travel agents play an important role in creating the awareness
of Indonesia as a popular destination as they have direct contact
with international customers. They can invite their international
travel partners here; remember, seeing is believing.

Another potential market segment, which still needs serious
exploration is the Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Exhibition
(MICE) Industry. It must be stressed in promotions that
international conferences or meetings in Indonesia would give
participants an opportunity to experience a unique atmosphere.

Before the monetary crisis hit the country in 1997, the number
of MICE events held in Indonesia were on average 1,116 events per
year and projected events for 2002-2003 will most likely be the
same.

Nonetheless, achieving this target needs four requisites: A
sense of urgency to win back the lost market segment, a sense of
creating unique activities, a high sense of business and a sense
of confidence -- in the sense of being proud of the products we
offer.

These requisites are crucial, given that the hotel rooms in
Indonesia, now about 252,000, only have a 40 percent occupancy
rate per year, or about 151,200 empty rooms per year. If there is
on average one room to 1.5 employees, there will a potential for
226,800 new recruits per year in the hotel industry alone, not to
mention the employment opportunities in other tourist-related
industries.

The writer is director of sales and promotion at Dusit Mangga
Dua Jakarta and chief of public relations for the Indonesian
Exhibition Companies Association.