T

he government expects emergent tourist destinations, such as Lake Toba in North Sumatra and Toraja in South Sulawesi, to attract more investment while traditional destinations like Bali would remain attractive.

Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said during a recent tourism investment event in Jakarta that many tourist destinations outside Bali and Jakarta were being developed as demand surged.

'We have many investment opportunities in the tourism sector, from Aceh to Papua,' she added.

Based on the latest figures from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), 35 percent of 2.02 million foreign tourist arrivals in the first quarter of this year were through Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali and 26 percent through Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten.

However, the highest growth in arrivals in the first quarter this year was recorded at Lombok International Airport in West Nusa Tenggara with an increase of 46 percent compared to the first three months of last year.

The province that recorded the highest room occupancy rate in the first quarter was Central Sulawesi with 63 percent followed by Bali and Lampung at 58 percent and 56 percent, respectively.

The government earmarked 16 areas across the country as National Tourism Strategic Locations (KSPN), including Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Ende in East Nusa Tenggara, Toraja in South Sulawesi and Raja Ampat in West Papua.

This year alone, there have been investment commitments from both global and local players to operate hotels or build resorts, Mari said, with some of the investment targeted up-and-coming destinations like Tanjung Lesung, a peninsula in Banten.

Dubai-based developer Damac signed an agreement to build a golf course, a marina, a resort as well as hotels in Tanjung Lesung, according to Setiawan Mardjuki, director of PT Banten West Java Tourism Development, a subsidiary of publicly listed developer PT Jababeka.

Several hotel operators also expressed their commitment to build more hotels within the next few years during the Internationale Tourismus Borse (ITB) Berlin in March.

France-based international hotel chain Accor is set to build 50 new hotels across the country in the next three years, while Carlson Rezidor signed a joint venture agreement with the Panorama Group to build 20 hotels in the
next five years with a total investment of around Rp 2 trillion (US$205.55 million).

'We will open hotels in Java and Bali, but we will also open hotels in other tourist destinations, such as Medan and Makassar because within the next 10 years tourism would not only be in Java and Bali,' said Panorama Group CEO Budi Tirtawisata.

Data from Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) showed that total investment in the tourism sector grew by 210 percent last year to US$869.8 million from US$279.8 million in 2011, of which 90 percent was foreign direct investment and the remainder was domestic direct investment. (koi)