Jakarta, Jan 30 (Antara) - The development of the tourism industry will
be integrated with the strengthening of the maritime axis concept, so
that tourism will serve as the main pillar of the national economy.
"The
strategy we are designing is to build seaports as a tourism axis on
large islands from where tourists will be able to travel to smaller
islands," Senior Planning Coordinator of the National Development
Planning Board (Bappenas) I. Dewa Gde Sugihamretha stated on Friday.
With regard to the government's agenda to strengthen the maritime axis
concept, Sugihamretha expressed confidence that the island tourism
industry could thrive in the next five to ten years.
After all, the country's tourism sector is forecast to serve as the
main pillar of the national economy, replacing the tax and energy
sectors in the future.
The
prediction is expected to come true, so that the development of
integrated tourism and the maritime axis concept is supported by
numerous attractive islands with their natural beauty.
Indonesia
has 17,504 islands with 13,466 of them having being named and
registered with the United Nations. Of the islands, 11,799 or 87.64
percent are uninhabited.
"The
development of small islands as tourism destinations does not
necessarily mean that the larger islands are forgotten. The objective is
to increase the accelerated potential of national economic growth," he
remarked.
"The shifting of tourism development to the Asia-Pacific region will
help the tourism sector in the country to serve as the main pillar of
our national development financing," Sugihamretha said.
He stated that the role of oil and other fossil fuels in the
development of the nation is declining, and thus, the country will rally
on other sectors as the main income earners.
The expectation of the tourism sector taking over the role of other
sectors is in line with the United Nations World Tourism Organization's
(UNWTO's) forecast that the tourism industry will experience high growth
and become the engine of the world's social and economic development.
The integration of tourism and maritime axis development is part of
inculcating creativity in developing the tourism sector. A legislator
has viewed that Indonesia still lacks creativity in tourism development.
"Indonesia still lacks creativity in the methods that it adopts to
promote tourism. It needs to make breakthroughs if it wants to boost
tourism in the country," Krisna Mukti, a member of Commission X of the
House of Representatives (DPR), stated.
Citing Malaysia as an example, he stated that it broadcasts
advertisements during television programs in the United States that have
an international audience.
"Also, Indonesian actor Joe Taslim was appointed as a tourism envoy in
New Zealand," Mukti, who is also an artist, pointed out.
"This
is very disappointing because Taslim is an internationally renowned
Indonesian actor. The local potential should be taken advantage of as
well," the legislator remarked.
Yet, the target to make the tourism sector a pillar of national
development is inseparable from the expectations to increase the number
of tourist arrivals in Indonesia.
Based
on data, the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia was recorded
at 8.8 million, far smaller than that of Malaysia, which reached 25.7
million and Thailand 26.6 million.
"We
and the government have set a target of 20 million visits in 2020, or
more than that if we can," Sugihamretha remarked.
According to
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya, as many as 9.3 million foreign tourists
visited Indonesia last year, while the number of domestic tourists was
251 million.
Minister Arief Yahya has set a target of US$12.05 billion in foreign
exchange earnings from the tourism sector by the end of 2015.
"We aim to earn US$12.05 billion as foreign exchange revenue from the
10 million tourists we predict will visit the country by the end of this
year," Yahya affirmed here on Wednesday (January 14).
"Our tourism industry performed considerably well in 2014. So, we are
targeting a 7 to 8 percent growth this year, which is 10 million
tourists," the minister explained.
Furthermore, the ministry has set the domestic tourism target at 254
million trips, with expenditures amounting to Rp201.5 trillion.
The tourism industry is also expected to absorb 11.3 million workers, either directly or indirectly, he added.
Speaking to the press, the minister noted that the tourism industry
contributed 3.78 percent to the national economy last year, with the
target being set at 4.25 percent and having earned US$10.69 billion as
foreign exchange revenue.
The government, in 2014, had set a target to earn US$12 billion from
the tourism industry. Some 11.21 million people were directly or
indirectly employed in the industry (the target had been 8.74 million),
he pointed out.
Moreover, at the beginning of the year, the government established a
free visa policy for short visits for Australians, Japanese, Koreans,
Chinese, and Russians.
The
government has also eased permit procedures for international yachters
to boost the country's marine tourism industry.
***3***
(T.A014/INE)
EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 30-01-2015 20:31: |
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