Tall Ship Dewaruci reaches Miami harbor, U.S.A: Rendezvous with Indonesian Community

After sailing from New Orleans for approximately 851 miles, the Tall Ship Dewaruci reached Miami Harbor on Saturday, 28 April 2012 at 11.30 local time. The ship was in fact 3 days ahead of schedule from the estimated 8 days’ trip due to its speed of 7 to 8 knot daily.
Upon arrival at Miami, no Roll Parade, GS Mini or dance performances were held aboard Dewaruci since the docking was not part of Operation Sail 2012 but was to pick up Indonesian Navy cadets who were flown in from Surabaya. The cadets joined the ship to follow special training that will last until early July.
Starting Monday, 30th April 2012, the cadets will follow the Navy’s Educational curriculum until reaching Boston. From there, they will fly back to Indonesia to continue their study in the Naval academy in Surabaya. For about two months, the cadets will receive special training including in art and cultural performances which they will present at ports of call and during cocktail parties.
“The Tall Ship Dewaruci has played a significant role as a training vessel for Navy cadets so they can master the skill of navigation, especially in navigation by astronomy and Naval operational management”
Commander of the Tall Ship Dewaruci, Navy Colonel Haris Bima Bayusetio, accompanied by Navy Major Osben Alibos Naibaho received a simple but warm welcome from the city commissioner of Miami. Both parties exchanged souvenirs in front of the line up crew and cadets who were dressed in traditional Indonesian costume.
On Sunday, 29 April 2012, a simple cocktail party was held at the J Pier of Miami Harbor which was attended by the Indonesian communities residing in Miami, Florida and nearby areas. Present at the cocktail party were Indonesian Naval Defense Attaché for the United States, Navy Colonel Anwar Saadi, the Indonesia Consulate General of Houston, Al Busro Basnur, and hundreds of Indonesian.

Since the J Pier is restricted and closed to the public, invitees to the Tall Ship had to pass strict procedures, therefore, it was decided that an open ship session inviting Miami citizens to the ship was not held. However, the cocktail party received a warm welcome from the Indonesian Community. Several traditional dances were performed, including the Badinding (from Minangkabau/Padang, West Sumatra),the Reog Ponorogo (from Ponorogo, East Java), and the Rampak Gendang (from West Java). The traditional art performances were also interspersed with contemporary music given by the Dewaruci Band.

Indonesian communities living in Miami were enthusiastic to mingle and take pictures with the crew and cadets of the Dewaruci, as if a balm for their homesickness. They were thrilled to listen to distinct Indonesian music such as Dangdut, Campursari, and traditional songs. Adding to the “home” ambience was the variety of Indonesian popular culinary dishes served including Fried Rice, Bakso, Rendang, and many others.
The voyage of the Tall Ship Dewaruci circumnavigating the globe in year 2012 is both a diplomatic and educational mission. The voyage has also become a media to promote Indonesian Tourism, supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. The ship will also take part in the Operation Sail 2012 in the United States which is held to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the War.

(Source : live report Kapten Laut (KH) Sapto Budiarso for www.indonesia.travel

3 Comments

Yoreparoo
Posted on 6 May 2012 at 09:26

A heaven for food lovers

With a wide variety of food choices available, many Jakartans are willing to travel across the city to indulge their palate, making the culinary sector the biggest contributor to tax revenue from the city’s tourism.

Take food worshiper Lamtiur Hasibuan, 27, as an example. She spends her weekends strolling around the capital enjoying her favourite restaurants, or sampling the food of new restaurants.

“If I don’t go to one of my favourite restaurants, I just pick a random area and see what kind of food is available there, anything from street vendors to a fancy restaurant,” Tiur said.

If she finds the food delicious, no matter how expensive, it is guaranteed she will return with friends.

“When it comes to culinary, the taste comes first, then the price. Hunting food in Jakarta is fun, you don’t know what kind of food you can find in the different areas of the city,” the pork meatball enthusiast said, adding that her favourite locations for food hunting are Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta and Kota in West Jakarta.

Tiur also said that because there were many options now available in Jakarta, she no longer had to travel abroad to satisfy her culinary interests.

Private employee Dwi Gunarwati, who also shares similar opinions with Tiur, said Jakarta was a great city for food lovers from all income brackets seeking to satisfy their hungry tummies.

Besides the many foreign franchise restaurants available, the emergence of local restaurant chains and ubiquitous food centres offering affordable hard-to-resist dishes has pleased food lovers, Dwi said.

“I can see there has been a massive development in the city’s culinary sector in the past few years. Well, that’s good. Food lovers can choose all kinds of meals depending on their taste, while at the same time giving a chance for local businesses to boom,” said Dwi, who loves sushi.

Jakarta Tourism Agency head Arie Budhiman said the rapid growth experienced by the food and beverage sector in the capital had made it one of the most promising sectors in tourism.

“The culinary sector has a lot of potential in Jakarta. It’s no longer about fulfilling the food needs of the people, but has also become a lifestyle for some,” he said.

Arie said the habit of many Jakartans to gather and hang out while enjoying the food offered at cafes’, restaurants or even at street-side food centres had in some way helped boost the city’s tax revenue.

Such habits have also driven the rapid growth of 24-hour convenience stores that provide food and beverages, such as 7-Eleven and Lawson.

According to Jakarta Tourism Agency, in 2011, there were a total of 3,497 food and beverage businesses in Jakarta; 2,738 of which were restaurants, 704 were bars and 55 food courts. The total number was an increase from 3,181 recorded in 2010.

The culinary sector contributed to half of the city’s tax revenue from tourism in 2011, totaling 1.01 trillion rupiah (US$109 million), up from 835 billion rupiah in 2010. The total tax revenue from tourism in 2011 was 2.17 trillion rupiah, according to the Jakarta Tax Office Agency.

However, Arie said, the culinary sector in Jakarta could develop further if some of the policies regarding food imports were loosened.

“Restaurants are real economic hives that can generate a huge amount of tax revenue. I don’t think it’s supposed to be burdened by tight taxation systems,” he said.

(The Jakarta Post)

Terbaik ke-2 di Asia

Tenaga perhotelan dan para koki Indonesia rupanya terbaik kedua di Asia setelah Singapura. Kemenparekraf pun optimistis SDM pariwisata Indonesia bisa bersaing di dunia.

Badan Pengembangan Sumber Daya Pariwisata dan Ekonomi Kreatif sangat yakin terhadap kemajuan sumber daya manusia di Indonesia. Mereka yakin SDM lulusan sekolah tinggi pariwisata di Indonesia bisa mengangkat potensi wisata Indonesia di kancah internasional.

“SDM kita nomor 35 dari 125 negara di dunia. Di Asia kita nomor 2, setelah Singapura,” ungkap Prof I Gede Pitana, selaku Kepala Badan Pengembangan Sumber Daya Parekraf, dalam diskusi di Kemenparekraf, Jl Medan Merdeka Barat, Jakarta.

Beberapa sekolah tinggi yang bergerak dalam bidang pariwisata di Indonesia yang saat ini sudah mulai mengembangkan sayapnya di tingkat internasional. Namun, ada dua Sekolah Tinggi Pariwisata (STP) yang berhasil mendapat sertifikasi tingkat internasional.

“Di Asia Pasifik, hanya 16 yang dapat sertifikasi, yaitu STP Bandung dan STP Bali,” ujar Pitana.

Untuk level SDM sendiri, Indonesia memiliki tingkat yang cukup membanggakan. “Lulusan dari sekolah tinggi pariwisata di Indonesia sudah unggul di kawasan Asean. Untuk tingkat dunia akan segara menyusul,” kata dia.

Diungkapkan pula, pentingnya kerja sama dengan pihak luar, seperti universitas di luar negeri. Hal tersebut diharapkan mampu meningkatkan kualitas SDM di Indonesia.

“Bandung sudah hampir pasti bekerja sama dengan universitas di Inggris (Leeds Met University-red). Nantinya mahasiswa kita sudah bisa mendapatkan dua gelar sekaligus dalam waktu hanya 15 bulan,” jelas Pitana.

Untuk mendukung pengembangan SDM pariwisata, pemerintah daerah harus ikut membantu. BPSD juga berupaya mengembangkan kualitas SDM dalam pemerintah daerah dalam koridor otonomi daerah.

“Kami sudah mulai untuk mengembangkan SDM pemerintah daerah. Semenjak otonomi daerah diberlakukan, khususnya daerah terpencil. Langkah ini belum pernah dilakukan,” ungkapnya.

(Detik Travel)

Cocos Islands..Darah Daging Indonesia

Siapa diantara kita yang pernah mendengan Cocos Islands ? Sebulan lalu mungkin sedikit sekali, namun kini mungkin sudah agak sedikit terkenal, terutama setelah ada kabar bahwa Amerika Serikat akan membangun pangkalan pesawat tanpa awak di Cocos Islands. Tapi tentu kita tidak membahas itu.

Cocos Islands adalah kepulauan kecil yang terdiri dari 27 pulau koral dan 2 pulau atol, terletak sekitar 1000 km dari Jakarta, yakni sebelah selatan Pulau Jawa di Samudra Hindia, dan 2800 km dari Perth, Australia. Penduduknya sekitar 600-an orang. Cocos Islands masuk dalam teritori negara Australia sejak 1955 setelah sebelumnya dikuasai Inggris, dan Srilanka.

Nah, yang unik dari pulau ini adalah bahwa 90% penduduknya adalah muslim, dan beretnis Jawa dan Melayu. Betul, mereka adalah keturunan para pekerja yang didatangkan oleh Inggris dari Jawa pada abad 19, untuk bekerja di perkebunan di sana. Konon, para keturunan Jawa ini masih memegang budaya Jawanya, bahkan di antara golongan tuanya, masih ada (mungkin sedikit) yang masih bisa berbahasa Jawa. Bahkan di dalam logo kepulauan tersebut, terdapat tulisan berbahasa Indonesia “Maju Pulau Kita”. Bahkan wayang kulit diadopsi menjadi gambar di perangko nasional Australia. Dulunya, wayang-wayang yang dibuat di Cocos  itu mereka buat dari kulit hiu kering, sedangkan dalang terakhir mereka Mbah Itjang meninggal pada tahun 1949.  Wallahualam

Pemerintah Australia secara tegas mewajibkan penggunaan bahasa Inggris di sekolah-sekolah di pulau tersebut, bahkan konon anak-anak yang masih menggunakan bahasa asli mereka, dulunya dihukum. Wallahualam.

Banyak orang Jawa yang bahkan tidak pernah tahu keberadaan saudara-saudara mereka di pulau kecil nan terpencil ini, yang saya tahu, beberapa tahun lalu ada rombongan turis dari Malaysia yang berwisata ke pulau ini. Wajar saja, karena keturunan melayu Malaysia juga banyak. Kedatangan mereka, tentu saja menjadi obat rindu etnis Jawa/Melayu disana…yang begitu jauh terpisah dari mana-mana, dan jarang bertemu orang dari luar wilayah mereka.

Kita sering mendengar dan mempelajari Suriname, tentu saja, dimana banyak keturunan Jawa yang ada di sana. Namun kita seolah melupakan saudara kita di selatan sana. Kalau ada waktu, kalau ada dana, visit Cocos Islands. Say hello to them, from GNFI.

Indonesia’s rich Ocean Resources are a major tourist draw, but must be carefully preserved

Thirty percent of the 7.6 million visitors to Indonesia are drawn by the country’s natural beauty, and a large part of these come to this archipelago for its 600 and more amazing dive sites and coral reefs, said Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy, Mari Elka Pangestu opening the Deep and Extreme Indonesia exhibition in Jakarta on Thursday, 29 March 2012.
Nonetheless, we should be careful that Tourism should not only improve the local economy but it should also induce communities to preserve the wealth that nature has provided us.

Fishermen should be instructed not to use bombs to catch fish. But conversely, they should also be provided with alternative livelihood. Learners in diving should be taught not to step on and therefore damage coral reefs, since these new shoots take years to grow.

As a special interest attraction, dive sites should not be overcrowded and destinations should be aware of the environment’s carrying capacity. In the preservation of marine destinations, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in cooperation with the Ministry for the Seas and Fishery and the Ministry of Forestry work together to both improve the economy of the local population at the same time preserve the environment.

In the Wakatobi islands in South East Sulawesi, for example, the government works together with the private sector and NGO to preserve Wakatobi’s pristine seas.

Minister Mari concedes that development of marine based tourism is still handicapped by limited infrastructure and transportation. For this reason, the government at National and Regional level will continue to work together with the private sector and all shareholders to attract more investors to develop islands and marine-based tourism in Indonesia.
The Deep and Extreme Indonesia exhibition is ongoing at the Jakarta Convention Centre from 29 March – 1 April 2012, where national and international participants in a hundred stands are ready to provide to the public information on diving and adventure tours, equipment and gear, and other services.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Indonesian Divers Association, Freddy Numberi said that the Association continues to improve the quality of dive instructors as well as teach tourists to be more sensitive of the environment.
To further promote Indonesia’s abundant marine-based destinations and attractions, Indonesia will attend the Dema Show in Las Vegas, USA, from 14- 17 November 2012, informed Minister Mari Pangestu.

taken from Indonesia.travel

French tourists to Indonesia on the upswing despite European economic crisis

Despite the economic downturn in Europe including France, the number of tourists from France to Indonesia is increasing. Among European countries, the French market recorded the second highest growth at 7.7% after Russia.

Statistic showed that while France has revised her economic growth from 1.5% to 0.5%, the number of French tourists visiting Indonesia in 2011 increased by 7.74% to 170.532 from a total of 158.280 in 2010. Whereas, the number of tourists from England was up by 3.73%, the Netherlands by 2.88%, and Germany by 2.29%. One supporting factor towards this achievement was Indonesia’s participation in various international Tourism promotion events such as the Salon Mondial du Tourisme held in Paris from 15 to 18 March 2012.

In contrast to other business trade expos, the Salon Mondial du Tourisme is the biggest consumer oriented tourism fair in Paris. Here, travel agents meet directly with potential tourists looking for travel destinations. Participating in the event, the Indonesia Pavilion featured 9 travel agents. At the Indonesia Pavilion, Nia Niscaya, Director for Overseas Promotion of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy remained optimistic on the increase of French tourists to Indonesia.”We are very proud of this achievement, since we only conducted minimum promotion and participated only in two major tourist events in France. Nevertheless, the role of VITO or the Visit Indonesia Tourism Office in France has also been significant since it promotes Indonesian Tourism in the French Market” stated Nia Niscaya as quoted in tvonenews.tv.

The Indonesia Pavilion also received the honor of a visit from the French’s Minister of Tourism, Frederic Lefebvre.
With the economic crisis still engulfing Europe, there are worries that the number of French tourists to Indonesia would decline in 2012. The Indonesian Ambassador for France, Rezlan Ishar Jenie advised the Indonesian tourism industry to continue promoting.”We cannot just watch the crisis, but we must see beyond this to the stage of post-crisis. Therefore, we need to anticipate the momentum of the European interest in Indonesia, especially in France”, added Ambassador Rezlan Ishar Jenie.

The tourist industry in Indonesia is determined to persistently conduct promotions for Indonesia by highlighting destinations outside of Bali. This is in line with the “Beyond Bali” strategy of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy which this year focuses on promoting new Nature and Adventure destinations such as Mount Bromo, Tana Toraja, Raja Ampat, Wakatobi, and Derawan.

Source: tvonenews.tv

Derawan Island and the Sangalaki Archipelago

With a new international terminal at Kalimantan’s Berau airport in Indonesian Borneo opening in April 2012, newly proposed routes from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore may soon make the Sangalaki Archipelago – a group of desert islands off the east coast of Borneo – easier to access.

Located in the Sulawesi Sea on the coastal shelf of East Kalimantan, these islands have powder-fine beaches, lush interiors and mysterious lagoons with stingless jellyfish. Explore this hidden paradise before the inevitable rush of tourists.

Derawan Island
Derawan is a fishing island about three hours by speedboat from Berau that has developed as a dive resort. Stilted guesthouses suspended over turquoise water, manta rays with seven-metre wingspans and friendly locals are all part of its charm: this is an island that time forgot.

The pace of life here is bucolic and unhurried, and four days can easily turn into a week. Wander the tear-shaped island’s sandy streets and mix with the genuinely welcoming and curious locals over some ikan bakar(grilled fish), before stepping over a six-foot monitor lizard to watch the sky ignite with a spectacular sunset.

Take a room at any of the basic, wooden guesthouses, and head straight to the sea. The reef has been decimated in parts by dynamite fishing, but you will still find a huge amount of underwater life, with a smorgasbord of cuttlefish, octopus, pygmy seahorse, scorpion fish, clownfish and giant green turtles.

Savvy divers head here from all corners of the world, lured by the extraordinarily rich marine life. Derawan Dive School offers diving around the island, as well as diving and snorkelling forays to the nearby islands of Maratua, Sangalaki and Kakaban. The budget traveller should try guesthouse and dive outfit Losmen Danakan (west coast of Derawan Island; 086-8121-6143) who run cheaper, local dives. Not to worry if you are not diving with a tank; free diving down a reef wall beside giant green turtles and manta rays is just as much fun.

Multi-coloured Pelangi Guesthouse (west coast Derawan Island; 081-347-807-078) has basic rooms with balconies jutting out into the Sulawesi Sea for around 183,000 rupiah a night, and can organize diving boats or lend you snorkels and fins. If you are looking for something more upmarket, Derawan Dive School has several high luxe cabanas with polished wood floors and air conditioning for around 300,000 rupiah.

Conservation programs
Up until 2002, the vast majority of turtle eggs laid on the island were collected by locals to sell, representing a major source of income outside of fishing. But thanks to the World Wildlife Federation partnering with the islanders, the beaches where hawksbill and green turtles lay their eggs are now fully protected.

Over the last 10 years, turtles have been tagged, and the volume of eggs they lay has been carefully monitored. If you want to get involved during your stay, head to Losmen Danakan, where the Turtle Conservation Group is based.

You will be able to accompany the wardens and other volunteers on their evening vigil for poachers – and if it is full moon, you will be able to watch mother turtles lumbering from the shallows and up the beach. This new eco initiative is already paying dividends, with turtle populations stabilizing and providing a steady income for islanders through low-impact tourism.

The Sangalaki Archipelago
Fifty minutes away by boat is the uninhabited and stunningly beautiful Sangalaki Island, where manta rays flock in numbers for the plankton-rich waters. As they flap and soar through the sea, these giants of the deep are as mysterious as they are alien, often staying for a week before vanishing. Alleged cyanide fishing has depleted their numbers, but reports of seeing them are regular.

If manta rays do not pique your interest, a 10-minute boat ride away from Sangalaki Island is Kakaban Island, where a brief walk from the jetty to its interior brings you out by a lagoon where you can swim with non-poisonous jellyfish. With no direct predators, over thousands of years these creatures have lost their sting.

Maratua, another island in the Sangalaki Archipelago, has even greater numbers of non-poisonous jellyfish in its lagoon, as well as a very strange coral reef. Spectral fluorescent spires and swaying technicolour starfish loom out at you as thousands of jellyfish brush up against you in the chalk-green waters. Maratua and Derawan are the only habited islands in the archipelago, and an airport is planned on Maratua for 2013. This would make access even easier, although it is being contested by environmentalists looking to protect the resident hawksbill turtles.

A 10-minute boat ride across the turquoise waters from Maratua brings you to Nabucco Island Resort, a boutique hotel set on its own island amid sand spits and trippy rock formations. Most of the guests to its flower-filled grounds spend little time in their luxury cabanas or the excellent restaurant; they are too busy heading out with the hotel dive school to nearby Barracuda Point, searching for hammerhead sharks, tuna and barracuda.

Whether you come to these islands as a traveller on a budget or a dedicated diver, the feeling is the same; exhilaration matched with a sense of discovery, for paradise never lasts forever.

(BBC Travel)

Pelan tapi Bangkit

Ketika saya terbang ke Lombok dari Surabaya, tak dinyana di dalam pesawat berukuran kecil itu (ATR-72 Wings Air) penuh dengan orang-orang asing yang (saya yakin) akan berwisata ke Pulau Lombok. Bukan apa-apa, saya masih selalu yakin bahwa Surabaya bukan tujuan wisata favorit para wisatawan asing, jadi ketika banyak wisman yang memenuhi pesawat tersebut, saya girang luar biasa.

Meskipun jumlahnya masih dibawah Singapore, Thailand dan Malaysia,  turis asing yang datang ke Indonesia terus bertambah dari waktu ke waktu. Januari 2012, jumlahnya naik hampir 20% dibanding periode yang sama tahun sebelumnya, sebuah loncatan statistik yang bukan main-main, mengingat kondisi perekonomian negara-negara maju yang sedang lesu. Tapi jumlah itu lebih besar dari wisman yang berkunjung ke India, atau ke Australia, wallahualam.

Sebenarnya di bidang pariwisata, pesaing paling utama Indonesia  di Asean adalah Thailand. Singapura, adalah hub paling penting  di Asia, dan tahun lalu Singapura dikunjungi oleh sekitar 12 juta wisatawan. Para visitor ke negara itu (menurut saya) masih didominasi oleh para pebisnis, karyawan, atau orang yang transit dan meluangkan waktu berkeliling Singapura, meski tentu saja ada juga yang sengaja datang untuk berwisata. Keuntungan menjadi hub bisnis dan transportasi udara seperti Singapura adalah bahwa seorang visitor bisa berkunjung ke Singapura lebih dari 1 x dalam periode tertentu, dan ini tentu menambah angka pengunjung secara total. Sementara Malaysia beruntung bertetangga sangat dekat dengan Singapura, pada tahun 2011 dari total  wisatawan asing yang datang ke Malaysia, 65%-nya* berasal dari wisatawan Singapura, dan tentu saja kebanyakan adalah mereka yang hobi berbelanja. Indonesia, sayangnya, bukanlah seperti keduanya.

Sementara Thailand, saya percaya wisatawan yang datang berkunjung ke negara indah tersebut adalah mereka yang benar ingin berlibur. Karakter kunjungan seperti itulah yang menjadi market Indonesia. Pada tahun 2011, jumlah wisman yang berkunjung ke Thailand mencapai sekitar 18-18.5 juta orang, jauh di atas Indonesia yang “hanya” 7 juta orang.

Ada beberapa sebab kenapa Thailand begitu “mudah” mendatangkan turis asing, diantaranya adalah :

1. Letak Thailand yang lebih dekat “kemana-mana”. Posisi Thailand yang lebih dekat (dibandingkan Indonesia) ke China, Jepang, Korea, Malaysia, Timur Tengah, dan Eropa tentu adalah satu elemen yang menguntungkan.

2. Pariwisata Thailand, bagaimanapun lebih terintegrasi dibandingkan dengan pariwisata di Indonesia. Sebenarnya bisa dimengerti, karena daratan Thailand adalah one single landmass, sementara Indonesia tercecer di ribuan pulau.

3. Kalau kita ambil contoh wisatawan dari Hongkong yang hendak berlibur ke pantai pasir putih yang sunyi dan romantis, dia akan berpikir…apakah akan ke Lombok, Ternate, Pulau Banda, atau ke Thailand? Pertama yang dia pikirkan tentu saja adalah harga tiket. Nah, ke Thailand tentu lebih murah karena satu kali jalan. Kalau ke Lombok, dia harus terbang ke Bali (atau Jakarta dulu), report di airport, dan meneruskan penerbangan ke Lombok, atau tempat-tempat lain.

4. Media di Thailand, kalau kita perhatikan, akan memberitakan berita-berita positif tentang negaranya, tentang potensi negaranya, tentang prestasi yang dicapai, dan berita-berita ini kemudian diquote oleh media internasional dan disebarkan. Meski ada berita negatif yang disiarkan, namun mereka mampu membawa balance. Bandingkan dengan Indonesia. Hidupkan TV dan lihatlah berita, berapa perimbangan berita negatif dibandingkan berita positifnya?

Bukan hal yang sederhana memang, memajukan pariwisata di Indonesia. Namun kita perlu menangkap peluang makin naiknya jumlah wisman yang datang ke negeri indah ini, dan ini perlu kerja bersama kita semua; misalnya :

1. Mungkin perlu segera direalisasikan pembangunan jembatan Singapura-Batam-Riau. Orang Singapura yang haus pedesaan, pegunungan, dan udara segar, akan bersemangat mengendarai mobil ke Riau.

2. Penerbangan murah perlu terus dikembangkan. Kawasan barat, tengah dan timur Indonesia banyak yang belum terjamah penerbangan murah. Kita terus melihat makin berkembangnya industri penerbangan di Indonesia sejak tahun-tahun belakangan ini, dan saat ini makin banyak yang bisa terkoneksi satu sama lain. Nah, sekarang perlu dipikirkan bagaimana menambah hub transportasi udara yang memadai dan modern di kawasan tersebut yang akan menjadi penghubung langsung ke kota2 di luar negeri. Kita sudah punya Jakarta, Surabaya, Bali dan Makassar. Medan menyusul. Balikpapan perlu, Lombok-Sumbawa juga perlu.

3. Saya mau menulis panjang lebar mengenai infrastruktur pariwisata. Tapi ini panjang sekali dan melelahkan, dan banyak tantangannya. Yang namanya infrastruktur, sebenarnya bukan hanya jalan, airport, jembatan, tapi juga meja imigrasi yang welcoming, taksi yang ramah, lingkungan yang asri, dan lain lain. Di lain kesempatan, akan kita bahas.

4. Yang ini lebih susah lagi, yakni bagaimana memajukan pariwisata kita, yang terintegrasi dengan cakupan pemberitaan di media nasional. Kalau yang ini bisa diperbaiki, insyaa Allah, akan sangat signifikan perkembangan pariwisata kita.

Kita memang tertinggal cukup jauh di dunia pariwisata, namun bukan berarti kita tidak bisa mengejar. Kita bisa, kita mampu, dan bahkan melewati tetangga-tetangga kita. Yang penting adalah, mau atau tidak?

Largest economy hotel in Asia Pacific opened in Bandung

International hotel operator Accor officially opened the largest ibis hotel in the Asia Pacific region – the ibis Bandung Trans Studio – in Bandung, West Java on Thursday.

The ibis Bandung Trans Studio has 606 contemporary guest rooms and it is located in the heart of Bandung, adjacent to the Bandung Supermal and Trans Studio, the largest indoor theme park in Asia.

“We are very confident in the market potential of ibis Bandung Trans Studio, which offers the most advanced level of comfort in the city’s economy segment,” Patrick Sibourg, the general manager of ibis Bandung Trans Studio said in a statement to The Jakarta Post.

He said that all 606 guest rooms conveyed a minimalist modern spirit, 32-inch LCD TV, Internet access and in-room safes.
The hotel also has 222 rooms with connecting doors for families.

“The hotel is sure to quickly become the place to stay for visitors seeking out great value accommodation in Bandung,” he added.

In addition, the 22-floor hotel features Oopen restaurant, which offers pasta and grill specialties in an open kitchen concept. It is open all day and serves all three meal periods.

With new direct flights from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, ibis Bandung Trans Studio is not only an ideal hotel for the Indonesian domestic market but also for regional travelers.

Accor is the largest hotel operator in Indonesia and has built up a hotel network of 46 hotels in 18 cities, which is still growing. (nfo)

taken from The Jakarta Post

A Deceptively Strong Start to 2012

January foreign tourist arrivals totaled 248,289 – an increase of 22.52% over the 202,660 tourist arrivals reported in the same month one year before.

Bolstering these strong results were result reported for Mainland China that jumped an astounding 222.64% equaling 55,178 visitors. Worthy of closer scrutiny, this total, if correct, may be a function of a sudden surge Chinese New Year holidaymakers.

Examining other markets that traditionally produce Chinese travelers over the extended Lunar New Year period also demonstrates strong improvement. Taiwanese visitors in January increased 20.2% at 11,680. Singapore visitors improved 10.27% at 7.601 and Malaysian tourist visitors improved 20.2%, achieving 11,680 in January 2012.

That the bold start to 2012 may be non-indicative of the year ahead is the general perception informally gathered in discussions with local hoteliers who report an unsettlingly quiet February.

In other markets, Australian arrivals improved 8.89% in January totaling 64,418. While a reasonable rate of growth by any standard, at 8.89% the Australian market growth appears to be leveling off after an extended period of steady double-digit growth.

Japan continues to be in the doldrums, declining a further 23.20% from the already depressed results ex-Japan for January 2011. January 2012 arrivals from Japan totaled 12,682.

Bright spots in the January tourist arrivals were the U.S.A. improving month-on-month by 23.08% (7,129); United Kingdom up 4.48% (6,433) and Germany up 10.74% (4,197).

February results, when published, will provide a clearer picture of how Bali’s inbound markets are likely to react over what may prove to be a precarious year ahead.

 Balidiscovery.com