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Bali tourney a strategy to reach out to tourists: City
Having spent Rp 6
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Having spent Rp 6.5 billion (US$539,500) of the city’s budget sponsoring the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open golf tournament in Bali, the Jakarta Culture and Tourism Agency defended the decision as key to reaching a wider audience expected to also be interested in visiting Jakarta.
Agency head Arie Budhiman said the Bali tournament was part of an effort to promote Jakarta’s golf courses and facilities globally.
“Promoting our golf facilities to the world is not an instant move. We have to attract potential visitors, especially foreigners, with international coverage,” he told The Jakarta Post in a phone interview Friday.
He added that moving the venue to Bali was done for this reason.
The tournament, co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour, was held in Greater Jakarta in the last four years. This year, it moved to Pecatu, Badung regency, Bali, where event regular Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand claimed the title.
Arie also said the Bali event had not put any extra burden on Jakarta.
“We only prepared Rp 6.5 billion for the prizes. Other expenses, including accommodation, were paid for by sponsors,” he said.
He added the administration planned to bring the event back to Jakarta next year before moving it elsewhere again in 2011.
“We still don’t know where to hold the tournament in two years’ time. If Bali yields a good response, it could be in Bali again,” he said.
The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association’s (PHRI) Jakarta branch said it supported the idea of moving the tournament out of the city, but only if it benefited the capital’s tourism industry.
“The PHRI supports the city’s move as long as it helps boost the city’s tourism sector,” PHRI Jakarta head Khrisnadi told the Post.
He added his association and the city administration were currently evaluating the results of moving the tournament to Bali.
“So far we’ve seen that holding an international event in a famous place like Bali can help spread the information a lot better to global viewers,” he said.
Jakarta has eight golf courses, three of them within an hour’s drive of Soekarno-Hatta Airport.
Many city taxpayers remain concerned about the use of their money to fund an event in another province.
The city administration has spent Rp 2 billion on the Jakarta Biennale arts festival this year, with another Rp 1.2 billion for the Jakarta International Film Festival (Jiffest).
Jiffest has been pleading for more funding from the city administration, arguing that such an event would benefit Jakarta, as the festival draws from 50,000 to more than 60,000 visitors a year, many from outside Jakarta and even abroad. Since 2006 the festival has been the biggest such event in Southeast Asia, in term of visitors. (hwa)
So far we’ve seen that holding an international event in a famous place like Bali will help spread the information a lot better to global viewers.
