RI UPBEAT TO ACHIEVE ITS TOURISM TARGET

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 10 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government is optimistic that it would be able to achieve its target to net 6.5 million foreign tourists this year.

        Though the number of foreign tourists coming to Indonesia in September alone reached 4.6 million, the target of 6.5 million can be reached as in November and December, the number of foreign tourists to Indonesia is usually increasing.

        "I am still optimistic that the target would be achieved," I Gde Pitana, director for overseas promotion of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture said here on Tuesday.

        The number of foreign tourists coming to Indonesia up to September reaching 4.6 million indicated that Indonesia still has to work hard to attract another 1.9 billion in order to reach its target of 6.5 million in the remaining three months of this year.

        Pitana said that the trend in the past years was that the number of foreign tourists to Indonesia increased drastically in November and December. The flocking of tourists to the country usually happened until the start of the new year.

        After all, the figure is usually counted only from those entering the country through 15 main gates. This means that those arriving through other gates missed the count.

        "Usually, the number of foreign tourists arriving in the country drastically increased in December so that the target is usually met toward the end of the year," Pitana said.

        He said that Indonesia still had a chance to conclude sporadic tourism transactions at the end of the year. Moreover, his side at present was facilitating Indonesian tourism operators who were attending the World Tourism Market in London, which would last until Thursday this week (November 12, 2009).

        Pitana said that his side was of the view that coordination with various components would serve as a decisive factor in making the target achievable.

        "We are coordinating with various components, one of which is the coordination to increase air flight seat capacity to Indonesia," he said.

        In the meantime, the Association of the Indonesian Tour & Travel Agencies (Asita) said tourism investment in Indonesia would grow positively after the holding of last month's national summit.

        "The investment in the tourism sector will grow positively, though it would not be as rapid as our expectation," Asita Vice Chairman for Jakarta Jongki Adiyasa said over the weekend.

        He said that significant growth could be expected from certain tourism sectors such as hotels and MICE (meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition) programs.

        Unfortunately, the good investment climate is unlikely to be created in all sectors of the tourism business, he said.

        "Among the causes of this condition is the fact that there are many inconsistent polices in the tourism sector which often overlap each other, particularly those issued by the central government and regional governments," the Asita chairman said.

        He cited as an example the police numbers of vehicles for a tourism fleet in Bali and Jakarta.

        "In Bali they are required to use private plate numbers while in Jakarta they have to use service ones. Thus, in Bali, a fleet has to pay tax higher than one that has to be paid in Jakarta," he said.

        The Asita chairman said he was convinced that the investment in the hotel and MICE sectors would grow significantly in line with the improvement of the country's economic business climate.

        Especially for this year, it seems that the government is able to meet its target to net 6.5 million foreign tourists.

        A total of 4.619 million foreign tourists have made a visit to Indonesia since January up to September 2009, or an increase of 1.07 percent compared with the same period a year earlier.

        In September 2009 alone, the number of tourist arrivals was 493,799," head of the ministry's data processing and network system center Wibowo said in the meantime.

        Compared to those arriving in the same period last year, which stood at 501,018, the number of tourist arrivals in September 2009 slightly fell 1.44 percent, he said.

        He said seven entry points including Ngurah Rai, Polonia and Sam Ratulangi Airports saw an increase in the number of tourist arrivals in September 2009.

        A total of 218.245 foreign tourists visited Indonesia via Ngurah Rai Airport in September 2009, a 15.32 percent increase compared to the same period last year, he said.

        Meanwhile, the number of tourist arrivals through Polonia Airport in Medan and Sam Ratulangi Airport in Manado respectively rose 20.96 percent to 9,702 and 24.85 percent to 2,633 from a year earlier, he said. Those coming through the Entikong gate way also increased 22.46 percent to 2,192.

        The other gates were Sultan Syarif Kasim II (increasing 60.50 percent to 1,796), Adisumarmo (up 27.88 percent to 1,211) and Makassar (up 6.55 percent to 797).

        He said eight other main entry points including Soekarno-Hatta and Juanda Airports recorded a decline in the number of tourist arrivals in September 2009.

        The number of tourist arrivals through Soekarno-Hatta Airport in September 2009 fell 10.96 percent to 87,047 compared to the same period last year, he said.

        Indonesia has set the target of tourist arrivals this year at 6.5 million. The figure is projected to increase to 7 million next year. ***2*** (T.A014/A/ H-NG /a014 )