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Domestic Tourism and the Bill on Tourism must be pushed


Monday August 21, 2006

The much toted rumour that Tourism would become one of the government’s priority areas for development in 2007, in tandem with agriculture and marine production development, did not materialize. In his National Day address, the President did not even mention once the word “Tourism”. 

Nevertheless, not taken aback, on the eve of National day, groups of tourism industry components held separate dialogues, to highlight problems facing Indonesia
’s tourism industry. 

On Wednesday, 16 August, the afternoon daily “Sinar Harapan” hosted a number of industry stalwarts to discuss the issue. And, indeed, the need to brainstorm among the many tourism industry components must have been felt by many since the gathering was well attended despite it being held on the eve of National Day and a long-long weekend. Present were Garuda and other senior airline staff, airline associations, INACA and PAUKI, tourism associations and non-governmental organizations, such as Care Tourism, and also Members of Parliament in charge of Tourism. 

Initiated by Senior Journalist, Adi Winarta, and moderated by Purwono of Care Tourism, main speakers were former Garuda President Director, Soeparno, and Peter Suhardjo of the Sahid Hotels Group. 

Purwono told Indonesia Digest that discussions were lively. Main conclusions made were firstly, that Indonesia
’s tourism can not rely solely on international tourism, especially since there are such large potentials to tap among domestic travelers. Therefore, boosting Domestic tourism must become first priority. Secondly, there was an urgent need to enact a new Law on Tourism. The Bill on Tourism, which apparently will be initiated by Parliament will soon be socialized to receive input from the industry and the public. 

Furthermore, in the absence of government initiatives to gather all stakeholders of Tourism to come to a national consensus on how to build our nation’s tourism, participants agreed to hold regular meetings, be it at the premises of Sinar Harapan, in Parliament, at Care Tourism or other venues. 

The day before, Garuda President Director, Emirsyah Satar, hosted a dinner with tourism stakeholders, requesting for input from the various components, and how best Garuda can work closer together with Indonesia
’s hotels and travel agencies, which apparently the airline finds slack.      

Meanwhile, the Dialogue Forum led by Ponco Sutowo, came to similar conclusions, that Tourism must be revitalized, as reported in Bisnis Indonesia


But now that Budget proposals are out and government’s priorities for 2007 seemingly does not include tourism, the Indonesia Digest believes that it is now up to Tourism industry leaders to insert tourism programs into the priorities mentioned, such as in infrastructure development, investment opportunities, development of rural areas, etc. – which of course is a much more difficult task to do, - and fight for – rather than if Tourism was a priority sector on its own.