Jakarta - As the Ministry of Tourism and Culture gets ready to launch Visit Indonesia Year 2008, it is worth returning to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono‘s description about the country‘s abundant tourist attractions.
It is not just the country‘s natural beauty that we can use to lure visitors to Indonesia, but also its natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions and the mudflow crisis, the President said.
"What don‘t we have in our country?" he asked when opening a national coordination meeting on tourism and culture in April.
During his opening speech at the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) travel mart last week in Bali, Vice President Jusuf Kalla also spoke of the country‘s richness.
"Indonesia is not just Bali. There are a lot of other places in Indonesia such as Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi, each of which offers diverse cultures," Kalla said.
When international governments issue travel warnings advising their citizens not to visit Indonesia, the security threat itself may even be attractive to young travelers. An Acehnese official once joked that the implementation of sharia law could also be a potential tourist attraction.
"Perhaps we could persuade them to come and see caning," he said.
Indonesia prides itself on being one of the world‘s most exotic tourist destinations. Bali is just one of its "jewels", and this view is shared by many international travel agents and tourism organizations.
But why is it that in order to attract 7 million tourists next year, Indonesia has to launch a massive tourism campaign? Singapore seemed to easily lure 9 million visitors to its shores last year, while Malaysia hosted 17.5 million guests.
The reason for this is that we are a chauvinistic nation. Just because much wealthier nations imposed strict immigration regulations on Indonesians, the government retaliated by imposing tougher immigration rules on foreign nationals. This has damaged one of the country‘s main sources of income, as these immigration barriers have discouraged tourists from visiting the country.
Under the guise of religion, terrorists claimed the lives of many tourists in Bali in 2002 and 2005. Such people wrongly believe they have the right to kill in the name of God.
Bali remains the most popular destination for tourists in Indonesia, and the predominantly Hindu province contributes a large amount of revenue to the government‘s coffers. But after a small group of fanatics decided to plan suicide missions on the island, can we really blame international governments for advising their citizens against traveling to the country?
The Ministry of Tourism and Culture will launch Visit Indonesia Year 2008 in November. It has been 15 years since Visit Indonesia Year 1992 was successfully promoted. Next year the country will stage 100 international events and cultural festivals. These will coincide with the World Cultural Forum 2008.
However, Indonesia often cuts off its nose to spite its face. An example of this is its stance on gambling. Although the practice is officially banned for religious reasons in the country, it is rampant. If the ban on gambling was lifted, revenue gained by the state could be used to develop infrastructure rather than fall into the pockets of certain law enforcement officials.
Even predominantly Muslim Malaysia allows casinos to operate, albeit with very strict regulations. Is Indonesia a more religious country than Malaysia? It seems sometimes we are trapped by our hypocritical attitudes. While gambling is officially illegal throughout the country, it is public knowledge that is widespread among all levels of society.
While limited promotional activities and poor infrastructure are big hurdles to the development of tourism in Indonesia, we also need to improve our mind-set. Many Indonesians believe western tourists will do little more than damage our culture or will come here regardless of the services we provide due to the fact our country is one of the brightest jewels in the world.
However, in reality the government must promote and facilitate the development of integrated tourist attractions. This could be achieved through the provision of incentives and concessions in the private sector. However, investors must be given legal certainty that their businesses will not be threatened by those who believe tourists are detrimental to culture and religion.
No matter how much we spend on promoting Indonesia, if our mind-set remains the same it is hard to imagine more people deciding to spend their holidays in our country.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com (2 Oktober 2007)
