I respond to a letter titled "Why doesn't RI invest in tourism?" (The Post, March 24, p. 20) sent by Denni Hooping.

If you're talking about "city tourism" then Indonesia's image to the international world has to improve and better quality tourist attractions should be put in place in Jakarta. When compared to other ASEAN cities, tourists go to Kuala Lumpur for the Petronas Towers, Singapore for its East meets West blend and Bangkok for its markets and culture.

These factors enable the tourists to brag to others back home that they visited a famous landmark. It's sad to say that there is no dominant tourism feature in Jakarta (e.g. a building or landmark) for tourists. Shopping in malls?

Available in almost every country in the West, Jakarta needs a solid landmark to draw tourists, and the Jakarta Tower in Kemayoran needs to be finished in order for massive urban tourism to happen, before it gets overlooked as a tourist destination in the region. If it has a solid landmark and the Old City (Kota Tua) is revitalized along with a modern rail transportation system, the malls will complement the tourist landmarks and blend in well, such as Siam Square in Bangkok or Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur.

The quality of Jakarta's malls is actually better, as they host international brands usually only available in Jakarta, such as in Grand Indonesia. Imagine if Jakarta 10 years from now had the Jakarta Tower, the Old City and the Satrio shopping belt plus the current malls. It would become an instant hit and the negative issues that surround Jakarta would not be uppermost in tourists' minds. As for leisure tourism, such as Bali, tourists are still coming in droves and Indonesia is still regarded as one of the top destinations for it in European countries and Northeast Asia.

Alwin Adityo

Jakarta

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