Jakarta, July 24 (Antara) -- In the past several years, the potential of Indonesian tourism has been left unexplored due to lack of promotional activities and security issues.
As compared to its neighboring member states of the ASEAN, such as Thailand and Malaysia, Indonesia has lagged far behind in the tourist sector.
Besides lack of promotions, terrorism was a major impediment for the Indonesian government in the past. However, it has now been silenced categorically, and security threats to tourism are a matter of the past, with most terrorist leaders arrested, executed or killed.
Now, the government has picked up pace to introduce the country's tourism potential in the form of scenic beauty, culture, beautiful destinations and business tourism events.
Tourism in the country is now showing its potential with regard to both business prospects and the convenience it offers visitors.
This has drawn the attention of investors who now wish to build a variety of tourism-related industries in the country. Also, their interest has been fueled by the government's policy to offer free visa services to tourists from at least 40 countries.
Investors' greater interest is reflected in the rise of investment proposals, which rose by more than 100 percent in the first half of the year.
Earlier this week, the Capital Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) said that their interest in investing in the tourism sector and in special economic zones (KEK) soared 102.89 percent from October 2014 to June 2015.
Based on records of the BKPM, the value of investment proposed by investors to run businesses in KEKs and the field of tourism in this period was Rp168.9 trillion, up 102.89 percent from that in the same period last year.
"We provide places to develop the tourism sector within special industrial and economic development zones, as part of efforts to promote the field," Head of the BKPM Franky Sibarani explained in a written statement here on Wednesday (July 22).
He added that the development of the industrial sector within KEKs will boost the tourism sector because KEKs have infrastructural support.
These zones have strategic locations that serve as centers of economic growth that absorb workers, as well.
With investment in KEKs, the tourism sector is expected to develop further.
Moreover, tourist arrivals have seen an increase over the last several years, which has encouraged the government to raise its target for the same.
There has been a 7 to 8 percent rise in foreign tourist arrivals in the last few years.
Therefore, the government is optimistic that it will achieve its ambitious target of 10 million tourist arrivals in 2015 and 20 million by 2019.
It also believes that there will be an additional two million tourist visits in 2015, which will bring the total to 12 million.
In addition, in the past few years, the country has managed to boost its tourism sector, recording a 7 to 8 percent growth.
In the last week of December last year, Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya had said that the development of the tourism sector in the country was encouraging in 2014. In line with this improvement, the Ministry of Tourism set a target of 10 million foreign tourist arrivals for 2015, which is some 7 to 8 percent higher than the target set in 2014.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia this year reached 9.3 million, more than its moderate target of 9.2 million.
Therefore, the ministry is optimistic that by the end of 2015, the number of foreign tourists will rise to 9.5 million.
In 2013, Indonesia met its target of 8.6 million foreign tourist arrivals; the figure was 8.044 million in 2012.
Considering this upward trend, Yahya is confident that foreign tourist arrivals in the coming years will be high, and they will meet the target of 10 million arrivals in 2015 and 20 million by 2019.
Furthermore, through the development of various tourism facilities, such as hotels and other facilities in KEKs, growth of the tourism industry will improve and it will attract more visitors.
The development of tourism facilities will also increase the labor absorption capacity.
The BKPM chief cited the example of the Mandalika KEK in West Nusa Tenggra province. It has the potential to provide jobs for 58,000 regular workers and 200 thousand irregular workers in construction. "The Mandalika KEK has the potential to absorb 58,000 regular workers and 200 thousand others in the construction sector," Sibarani affirmed.
Besides having recorded principle license proposals, the BKPM also has on record 12 investors interested in developing tourism business within industrial areas of KEKs.
Of the 12 investors, seven have submitted the value of their investment worth US$12.87 billion. "One of the seven investors has proposed a large amount of investment worth US$2.25 billion.
We hope it applies for a principle license soon," Sibarani remarked.
The other 11 investors are still conducting feasibility studies and seeking the best locations.
"The BKPM fielded a marketing team to facilitate and to provide guidance in the process of seeking the correct investment locations," he pointed out.
Moreover, the government is pushing for the development of new economic growth centers in the form of industrial areas and KEKs, as part of the country's development priorities.
It is planning to develop 15 news industrial areas and 17 KEKs, including 10 tourism KEKs.
So far, the government has set up eight KEKs. These are the Sei mangke KEK in North Sumatra, the Tanjung Api-Api KEK in South Sumatra, the Tanjung Lesung KEK in Banten, the Mandalika KEK in West Nusa Tenggara, the Maloy Batuta Trans Kalimantan KEK in East Kalimantan, the Palu KEK in Central Sulawesi, the Bitung KEK in North Sulawesi, and the Morotai KEK in North Maluku.
In the next five years, the government is planning to set up seven more KEKs. Four of them are expected to be located in the provinces of Papua and West Papua, i.e. in Merauke, Sorong, Teluk Bintuni, and Raja Ampat.
In addition, President Director of PT Jababeka Setyono Djuandi Darmono has emphasized the need for the government to offer special incentives and regulations to attract investors to KEKs.
"Investors need special treatment and policies from the government on legal aspects, fiscal incentives, non-fiscal infrastructure incentives, immigration, and other aspects that would ease their investments," he stated on Tuesday. ***1***(T.A014/INE)
EDITED BY INE(H-YH)(T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 24-07-2015 20:27:0 |
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