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Jakarta formulates tourism master plan to wow tourists
After the central government set an ambitious target of bringing in 20 million foreign tourists this year, regional administrations were left racking their brains over how to boost tourism to achieve the goal
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span>After the central government set an ambitious target of bringing in 20 million foreign tourists this year, regional administrations were left racking their brains over how to boost tourism to achieve the goal.
Hoping to set an example, the capital city, listed as one of the top 10 priority tourist destinations for development in 2015 to 2019, is devising a master plan of Jakarta’s tourist destinations, putting forth the Thousand Islands, home to many resorts, and Kota Tua in West Jakarta, home to many historic buildings, as top destinations.
During a recent workshop discussing the issue at City Hall, Central Jakarta, the Tourism Ministry’s head of development for priority tourist destinations, Hiramsyah S. Thaib, explained that the tourist sector was the country’s core economy.
“In 2019, the tourist industry is projected to contribute US$20 billion to GDP,” he said during his presentation.
He said tourism in Indonesia could eventually surpass that of Thailand, which earned over $40 million from the tourist sector.
Moreover, Jakarta comes second after Bali in terms of the highest number of tourists. According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), 6.02 million foreign tourists entered via Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali and 2.8 million via Soekarno-Hatta International Airport last year.
The BPS recorded 15.81 million foreign tourists visited Indonesia in 2018, falling short of the targeted 17 million.
Indonesian tourism took a severe blow last year because of a string of devastating natural disasters across the country, including an eruption at Mount Agung, Bali, earthquakes in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, an earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Central Sulawesi and a tsunami in Tanjung Lesung, Banten.
Governor’s assistant for tourism and culture Oswar Muadzin Mungkasa said the capital’s tourist sector contributed about 13 percent to the city’s revenue in 2017.
Therefore, various stakeholders gathered for discussions on a master plan.
“We [the city administration] will reassess the grand design in the RPJMD [National Medium-Term Development Plan]. At least we are all in agreement on where the development of these tourist destinations should take place,” he said.
The document will comprise a vision and mission, targets, strategies, an action plan and a road map, all of which would be used as a reference for tourism-based development of the Thousand Islands and Kota Tua.
Hiramsyah expressed hope that the Thousand Islands and Kota Tua could be better managed by providing world-class facilities and services so that the number of tourists, both domestic and foreign, would increase from the 2 million visitors recorded by the Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency last year.
“The main thing is the commitment to establish Jakarta as a world-class tourist destination,” he said.
The issuance of the master plan would allow for speedier development, Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency information and development department head Alberto Ali told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the event.
Alberto acknowledged that Kota Tua faced challenges in heavy traffic and a lack of parking lots. Therefore, an ambitious plan was laid out in the discussions on a tourism master plan.
Speaking on the same occasion, Thousand Islands Regent Husein Murad said in a speech that one of the main problems of the region was water pollution in the form of plastic waste.
“The Thousand Islands is surrounded by trash. We [the regional and central governments] have come up with so many resolutions but in reality, [trash] remains.
So there must be something wrong here,” he said.
Husein also complained about problems in ease of doing business, which discouraged tourism-based industries from investing in the Thousand Islands, and a lack of incentives for Thousand Islands residents who promoted tourism. A master plan, he said, must be able to tackle such obstacles.
