Jakarta, Indonesia - Central Sulawesi is blessed with historical, cultural, religious, and even culinary tourism assets that need to be promoted all-out at home and abroad.
Early 20th-century Eorpean scholars Albert C Kruyt (1909 and Kaudern (1917-1920) did a lot of research on Central Sulawesi`s historical background but part of it has remained undisclosed.
Therefore, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is now determined to promote the province`s abundant tourism potentials overseas through its "Garuda Holiday" program.
"Promotion of Central Sulawesi`s tourism potentials will soon be included in our `Garuda Holiday` program," Muhammad Yunus, manager of the airline`s Palu branch office, said in Palu on Wednesday.
Yunus said Garuda had reopened its route to Palu not only to make Central Sulawesi more accessible by air but also to help the region attract more tourists.
Meanwhile, Yunus`s assistant, Erwin, said Garuda`s Jakarta-Makassar-Palu route which was reopened on July 1, 2010 would make it easier for foreign tourists, especially those from Europe, to come to Central Sulawesi because Garuda flights from Amsterdam to Jakarta usually arrive at 8 am while the Jakarta-Makassar-Palu flight departs at 12 noon and arrives in Palu at 5 pm local time.
"Thus European tourists intending to visit Central Sulawesi by Garuda jetliners will not need to spend too much time at Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta to take a connecting flight to Palu via Makassar," Erwin said.
Palu Avia Tour President Director Ari Wowor expressed optimism that the number of European tourists visiting Central Sulawesi would increase following the resumption of Garuda`s service to and from Palu.
He said he was optimistic because foreign tourists always preferred to fly Garuda when they wanted to travel around in Indonesia.
The first Europeans who came to Central Sulawesi to trade with the local kings were Portuguese, followed by the Dutch.
And the prehistoric sites are still there for the European tourists to see in Central Sulawesi, which also has megalithic spots scattered across the highlands of Bada, Napu, and Besoa, areas inhabited by the Lore people.
Central Sulawesi is beautiful with its fascinating mountain, lakes, and valleys that can make foreign tourists love every minute of their stay.
This is why Garuda Indonesia is determined to promote the valuable assets of the province`s natural beauty in other countries.
Garuda reopened its Jakarta-Makassar-Palu route with the first flight with a significant number of passengers to Central Sulawesi city of Palu on Thursday, July 1, 2010.
Yunus did not go into detail of the specific number of passengers, but said the air transportation business in the country at present was quite promising.
He said following the reopening of the Garuda route to Palu, it was expected that both domestic and foreign investors will be more interested in investing in various sectors in Central Sulawesi province.
"With the reopening of the Garuda route, we hope more domestic and foreign tourists will visit the province and more investors will operate here," Yunus said.
According to him, the more air line services are avalable , the more people will travel byh air.
He added that Garuda Boeing 737-400s with 134 seats for business and economic class would make return lights every day between Jakarta and Palu.
The reopening of Garuda`s Palu route was also welcomed enthusiastically by the Central Sulawesi provincial government.
Local Tourism Office chief Suaib Djafar said the provincial government hoped Garuda`s regular flights to and from Palu would help increase foreign tourist arrivals in the province.
He said the reopening of Garuda`s Jakarta-Palu route would also facilitate the local people to travel to other parts of the country and abroad.
Djafar said Garuda was the fourth airline to open a regular air service to and from Palu after Merpati Nusantara Airlines, Batavia Air, and Sriwijaya Air.
He added that Central Sulawesi had a lot of interesting and unique places for tourists to visit but the problem was that road access to those places had yet to be made more convenient.
Tanjung Karang beach in Donggala district, some 37 km northeast of Palu, is also one of the places recommended to tourists to visit.
A local resident of Palu, Rolex Malaha, said by making car trip of about one hour from Pulu city, tourists would find an extremely peaceful spot attached to a beautiful tropical garden and a relaxing atmosphere on the white sandy beach of Tanjung Karang.
He said a protected coral reef just off the white sandy beach of Tanjung Karang would also enable the tourists to explore its magnificent underwater dive spots.
Each year hundreds of European tourists visit Tanjung Karang beach and Togean Islands in the province, and the number is predicted to keep increasing following the reopening of Garuda`s Palu route.
Togean Islands, or just the Togeans, is an archipelago of 56 pristine coral and volcanic islands and islets located in the Gulf of Tomini in Central Sulawesi.
No wonder, the Central Sulawesi Cultural and Tourism Office has planned to organize a "Sail Togean" marine tourism festival next year as a follow up to Sail Banda 2010.
"We have consulted the marine and fishery affairs minister and the cultural and tourism minister on the idea. They gave their support," head of the Central Sulawesi cultural and tourism office Suaib Djafar said.
He said the Central Sulawesi provincial administration would learn from the experiences of North Sulawesi in organizing `Sail Bunaken` and Maluku which is to hold `Sail Banda` this year. (*)
Source: http://www.antaranews.com
