M

arcia Amandani, 26, was born and raised in Jakarta. Her penchant for traveling has taken her to faraway places, and only recently did she realize that the capital also boasts manifold places to explore.

She would think Jakarta was not as attractive as popular destinations she has visited, such as Bali, Yogyakarta, Sumba in East Nusa Tenggara, the United States, Vietnam and Australia.

That was until last month, when she joined a city tour organized by Jakarta Good Guide that took local holidaymakers around Chinatown, also known as Glodok, in West Jakarta. The tour agent took her to Jakarta’s oldest Buddhist shrine, the Kim Tek Ie Temple, the Pantjoran Tea House, the city’s oldest drugstore Lay An Tong and the Tak Kie coffee house.

The sightseeing radically changed her perception about the capital city.

“It was a fantastic tour,” she said. “I was born and grew up in Jakarta, but I have to admit, I have scant knowledge about the city and its history.”

The tour turned addictive for Marcia. Last Sunday, she joined another Jakarta Good Guide walking tour, along with her sister Andini Putri, 21, exploring historical sites around the old town in Central Jakarta.

The latest tour only increased her curiosity about the city, and she is planning yet another excursion to another historical site in the city.

Tour operators have reported a surge in the number of locals engaging in city sightseeing in recent years. Last Sunday, Jakarta Good Guide, which focuses on walking trips, counted 163 locals, including Marcia and Andini, in its groups. That day only seven foreign tourists were in the herd.

“Since Jakarta Good Guide started in 2014, there has been an interesting trend; local holidaymakers are outnumbering foreigners in the tours we organize,” said Farid Mardhiyanto, the founder of Jakarta Good Guide.

“In our early years, foreign tourists would dominate our tours, maybe because they were our main target. But, as time goes by, the trend is reversing.”

Seventy percent of the 450 tourists the tour agent served per month were locals, Farid said, and the good news was that the locals would bring along their relatives or friends for the next trip.

Jointly run by six licensed tour guides, Jakarta Good Guide offers three hours of sightseeing per trip in historical places of Jakarta. Besides the old town and the Glodok area, the agency also goes to other historical landmarks, such as Pasar Baru in Central Jakarta and the Blok M area in South Jakarta.

Recently, the agent added some kampungs to its list of destinations: Kampung Tongkol and Kampung Aquarium — both located by the Ciliwung River in North Jakarta.

“We mean to show that Jakarta still has well-preserved, clean kampungs. Their residents don’t dispose of trash into the river,” he said.

The Global Destination Cities Index (GDCI) released by Mastercard last month placed Jakarta as the fifth fastest growing destination among 132 world cities, after Osaka in Japan, Chengdu in China, Colombo in Sri Lanka and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Last year, 2.51 million foreign tourists visited Jakarta, a 5.4 percent increase from 2015, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

Tinia Budiati, head of the Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency, also notes a growing enthusiasm among Jakartans to visit historical sites in the city.

“Locals should know Jakarta better than foreigners,” she said, pointing out that there were many historical sites that people and historians had yet to explore. She was referring to Harmoni and areas surrounding the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta, Menteng in Central Jakarta, Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta and Jatinegara in East Jakarta.

“Unfortunately, it is difficult to find historians who write about Jakarta’s history nowadays.” (yon)