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RI lures foreign tourists with ‘super-priority’ destinations
Arief Yahya (JP/Jerry Adiguna)The government is betting on five super-priority tourism destinations to attract more international tourists after it failed to meet the foreign tourist arrival target last year
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Arief Yahya (JP/Jerry Adiguna)
The government is betting on five super-priority tourism destinations to attract more international tourists after it failed to meet the foreign tourist arrival target last year.
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said the government would be allocating Rp 9.3 trillion (US$656.8 million) until next year to finance basic infrastructure development in the five destinations, namely Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Borobudur temple in Central Java, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and Likupang in North Sulawesi.
“All basic infrastructure development must be completed in 2020,” Arief told an audience at the National Coordination Meeting on Tourism in Jakarta on Sept. 10.
Last year, the Tourism Ministry aimed to attract some 17 million foreign tourists but only 15.8 million foreign tourists visited the country.
About 1 million tourists canceled their trips to Indonesia because of natural disasters, including two major earthquakes that hit Lombok, NTB, at the end of July and the beginning of August last year, Arief said as reported by kompas.com.
The Rp 9.3 trillion budget will be distributed to six institutions in charge of the infrastructure plan, namely the Tourism Ministry, Public Works and Housing Ministry, Transportation Ministry, Environmental and Forestry Ministry, Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) and the Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Ministry.
Lake Toba, a 1,130-square-kilometer volcanic lake, will receive some Rp 2.2 trillion of the allocated budget to develop a glamorous camping (glamping) area, the Kaldera Toba, 8.8 km of roads within the area, as well as two ring roads that will circle around the lake and Samosir Island.
Silangit International Airport in North Tapanuli regency is currently the closest airport to the area, besides Kuala Namu International Airport in the provincial capital Medan.
The next priority destination is Borobudur temple, a Buddhist temple located beneath volcanic Mount Merapi on the border of Central Java province and Yogyakarta province. The area will receive some Rp 2.1 trillion to be used for further study and improvement of its spatial planning and development of supporting infrastructures such as bypass roads and a new airport.
The new Yogyakarta International Airport, which will gradually replace the currently overburdened Adisutjipto International Airport, began partial operationsin May.
Meanwhile, Labuan Bajo in NTT, known for its beaches and the Komodo National Park conservation area, will receive some Rp 300 billion to turn it into a “premium” destination. Four-star hotels, an integrated marina area and a hill-top souvenir shopping center are some of the developments tourists will see in the area.
The port of Labuan Bajo will serve only passengers from yachts, cruises and live aboard tourist vessels after the development. Meanwhile, the port’s handling of containers will be moved elsewhere, Arief said.
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“All basic infrastructure development must be completed in 2020.”
Arief Yahya
Tourism minister
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Besides focusing on nature-based tourism, the government will also focus on developing sports tourism through the Mandalika area, located in neighboring NTB.
The development of a 4.32-km-long MotoGP circuit is the main goal aside from constructing a 17-km-long bypass road connecting Mandalika and Lombok International Airport and adding parallel taxiways to the airport.
“Mandalika is set to host the MotoGP in 2021,” said Arief, citing a statement made by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo earlier this year.
Outside of the four destinations that are parts of the 10 New Bali destinations, the government is now developing a special economic zone for tourism in Likupang, North Sulawesi. As part of North Minahasa regency, the area offers not only marine tourism but also ecotourism through the Wallace Conservation Area.
PT Minahasa Permai Resort Development has shown its commitment to developing the area by investing some Rp 7 trillion.
Meanwhile, the Public Works and Housing Ministry and the Transportation Ministry have allocated some Rp 560 billion and Rp 100 billion, respectively, for Likupang’s infrastructure development, including the expansion of Sam Ratulangi Airport in nearby Manado and construction of bypass roads connecting the airport with Likupang and toll roads from Manado to Bitung regency.
The government projected that tourism would receive about $20 billion this year, an increase from $19.2 billion last year, and would be the biggest contributor of foreign exchange reserves, Arief said. (asp)
