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Govt to focus on 10 tourist destinations outside Bali
A female tourist gets her feet wet at the Blue Lagoon beach in Padang Bai, Bali
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A female tourist gets her feet wet at the Blue Lagoon beach in Padang Bai, Bali. The government is set to develop ten tourist destinations next year with the aim of creating locations other than Bali that will attract foreign tourists to the nation. (thejakartapost.com/Raditya Margi) (thejakartapost.com/Raditya Margi)
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span class="caption">A female tourist gets her feet wet at the Blue Lagoon beach in Padang Bai, Bali. The government is set to develop ten tourist destinations next year with the aim of creating locations other than Bali that will attract foreign tourists to the nation. (thejakartapost.com/Raditya Margi)
The government has revealed plans to develop ten tourist destinations next year to shift the focus of Indonesian tourism away from Bali.
The ten destinations are Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Tanjung Kelayang in Belitung, Tanjung Lesung in Banten, Thousand Islands in Jakarta, Borobudur Temple in Central Java, Mount Bromo in East Java, Mandalika in South Lombok, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara, Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi and Morotai in North Maluku.
"Our tourism has been focused too heavily on Bali, which is already overcrowded. We want to build as many [destinations] as we can, but due to budget constraints, we will focus on these ten destinations for next year," Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli told a press conference on Monday.
According to Tourism Minister Arief Yahya, five destinations on the list were part of revitalization projects (Lake Toba, Borobudur Temple, Labuan Bajo, Thousand Islands and Mt. Bromo), three were special economic zones (Mandalika, Tanjung Lesung and Morotai) and two were newcomers (Tanjung Kelayang and Wakatobi).
"Tanjung Kelayang is the latest addition. It's unique because the demand for it came after the boom of the novel and movie Laskar Pelangi [Rainbow Militia]," said Arief.
Several ministries are set to collaborate on the development project. The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry will build the basic infrastructure, the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry will provide electricity and communication networks and the Transportation Ministry will handle the development of seaports and airports.
One of the first steps to be taken will be the establishment of a single tourism authority for Lake Toba after the issuance of a presidential regulation on the matter early next year. Similar authorities will be applied to the other nine destinations by the first quarter of 2016.
Rizal said that the development of tourism would hopefully increase not only the number of tourist arrivals but also employment opportunities. The government expects to increase the number of direct employees in the tourist sector from the current figure of 3 million to 7 million next year.
"Supporting industries will be developed to meet expanding demand. If an investor builds a hotel but uses imported equipment, the multiplier effect won't be big," Rizal said. (kes)(+)
