World Economic Forum
(WEF) reported that from 141 countries, the competitions of Indonesia’s of
Indonesia tourism was ranked 50th. This achievement in creased from the
previous position at rank 70 in the world rankings. Quoted from Indonesia
Travel, this improvement can be achieved because in 2014, Indonesia was able at
attract 8.8 million foreign tourists. Not only that, Indonesia is also able to
prioritize the tourism industry and sustainable infrastructure investments.
However, the increase in the
position is not of much use if it cannot be enjoyed directly by the people.
This was states by Rizal Ramli, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and
Resources, to the Management Board of the Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (KADIN Indonesia), in Jakarta, on Friday (September 4). Rizal also
asked KADIN Indonesia to prioritize the development of the tourism industry in
the short term so that economic development can be enjoyed by the public.
According to Rizal, the tourism
sector has been shown to rapidly increase the state revenue and social welfare.
The reason is that this sector can created jobs in large numbers in addition to
encouraging the growth of small and medium enterprises sector. The Coordinating
Minister said that Government wants to build five to seven integrated tourism
areas given the huge potential of the sector. With the development of
integrated tourism area, Rizal is targeting tourist visits to rise to 20
million within five years form nine millions this year.
For comparison, Rizal said that
Malaysia whose tourist destination is no better than Indonesia is visited by 25
million tourists per year. Furthermore, Rizal declared that an integrated
tourism in area in Lake Toba. Ha said that the region’s tourism industry
management should be performed by single authority called Toba Tourism
Authority.
Indonesia also considers that the
travelers from Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia, are potential travelers to
visit interesting destinations in the country, so that the promotion of tourism
destinations continue to be encouraged, including a number of new destinations.
According to him, there are many destinations that attract Malaysian tourists,
such as Nongsa in Batam Islam or Panti Lagoi, Bintan Island.
Similarly, for other destinations
that had been visited by many Malaysia tourists, promotion will be increased
continuously, such as ecotourism area, tourist villages, gold courses and
number of other places. Related to Malaysia, the Ministry of Tourism is
targeting for 2015 to reach as many as 1.7 million tourists or better than last
year’s achievement at 1.3 million people.
Currently, Malaysians visiting
Indonesia increasingly extends to many destinations, such as Bandung, Jakarta,
Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Bali, Lombok and some other regions. Efforts to increase
visits to Indonesia was also carried out through business meetings between
Indonesia tourism businessmen and travel agents in this country.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the
Indonesian Tourism Industry Association (GIPI), Didien Junaedy, said that AEC
2015 opens growth opportunities for industry business in the country, and at
the sometime is a threat to the local market. The readiness of the tourism
industry, according to Didien, has reached 75% in facing AEC. The weakness
which should immediately be overcome is human resources and tourism supporting
infrastructure.
According to him, Indonesia’s
tourism human resources are still far less than Singapore, Malaysia, and
Thailand. Currently, only about 30% of tourism human resources have obtained
tourism certification. On the other hand, AEC also promises great opportunities
for the entry of new investment in national industries, including tourism.
According to him, the governments should be able to provide a number of
incentives to further attract investment from outside. (E)
Business New - September 9, 2015
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