Visit Indonesia Year 2008: The Ups and Downs*
By: Annisa F. Wulandari
As the tourism industry emerged, so is the awareness toward the importance of tourism industry in contributing to economical benefit in a country. In order to answer this condition, the government of Indonesia launched a program called ‘Visit Indonesia Year 2008′. This program aimed to improve the welfare of society on the basis of tourism sector. It’s also projected that the program will improve competitiveness level of Indonesia tourism in International and national scope. The celebration of 100 years national awakening is one of the spirits that are brought by this program. As the concrete target, the government has set 7 million visitors in the year 2008. This number is increased from last year’s target of 6 million visitors. There are some strategies that have been planned in order to make ‘Visit Indonesia Year 2008′ successful. However, there are some weaknesses in the government’s effort concerning Visit Indonesia Year 2008.
Based on statistical data, the number of tourists visiting Indonesia during the period of January - March 2008 has increased 12,7 % from the previous period and reached the number of 1.86 million visitors. In the period between January - April 2008, Bali itself has accumulated 594,068 visitors, showing a year-on-date increase of 25.74% over the same period in 2007 (472,450). If current trends continue, Bali could end the year with foreign tourist arrivals of around 2.1 million. It’s a good indicator of how well this program is running. However, 7 million visitors is not a small number to be achieved and the end of 2008 is just 2 months away.
Yes, we believe that there are some accomplishments made by the program, but we see it’s necessary to highlight some government’s weaknesses regarding to this program, such as lack of coordination among respected parties (i.e. Ministry of Culture and Tourism, media institution, Foreign Affair Minister, local society, etc), lack of human resources and skill about tourism industry, ineffective publication and promotion, problems in maintaining the facilities and tourism objects, difficulty in determining potential tourism objects and marketing the objects, and lack of awareness from Indonesian people themselves. All of these weaknesses should be evaluated and the government must take firm and quick actions before we end this ‘Visit Indonesia Year 2008′ program.
In conclusion, the program of ‘Visit Indonesia Year 2008′ is a way to make Indonesian tourism one step forward from its position at the present time. Indonesia has uniqueness, rich heritage, traditional culture, culinary attraction, and values that can be promoted throughout the world. Indonesia has been motivated by seeing the development of tourism industry from our neighbors, such as Malaysia and Thailand. We can also reach that level of tourism industry if we walk hand in hand and perform comprehensive evaluation and strategies. Criticizing government’s effort to make VIY 2008 success won’t solve any problems, but we need to choose the right channel to give suggestion to the government and contribute in promoting Indonesia as the richest country of its heritage and culture. We Love Indonesia!
(*) This essay is written for the English task in Graduate Program of Sekolah Pasca Sarjana Sahid.
.being with you.
being with you, friends, is a great moment to forget my problems…
break-up?
“I forget to warn you that when you start a relationship with me, you should really notice that I’m unpredictable, easily explode, sensitive, emotional, insecure, weird and fragile, so that you should handle with care.“
Most time I blame myself for being so impatient, demanding and emotional, but I believe that’s the process to be more mature. I am just afraid that you will not be that patient to understand me and ‘take care’ of me…
Love (still) hurts:(
.:the stories behind me:. | Comments (5).Five People You Meet in Heaven.
Hm,, Ryry recommended me to read this book when we were in Bali. She bought the book (the English version!) for herself and for her lecturer -Tuesdays with Morrie.
I ever tried to read the book during our free time from handling those ‘lazy’ cruise ship candidates;) (But I miss them a lot now 
)
I read the first page, and then go to the second one, but that’s it!
I stop reading the book due to my limited vocabulary in reading English literature;)
(Hell yeah, I admit it!). It’s quite hard for me to understand the whole meaning of the story. Ryry never want to tell me what’s the story all about. She said, it will be better for me to read it by myself. I thought, I prefer reading the translation than the original one. But Ika Natassa -my favorite writer who wrote My Very Yuppy Wedding and Divortiare- said in one of his posting:
“Maybe it’s just me, but I personally believe that translating a book is like butchering the essence of the writing. Because when a writer writes, every single word that he or she put down on paper, every single comma and period, is there as the soul of the book. That’s why I think you should always read a book in the original language that it was written, to truly capture the chemistry of words, to read it the way it was meant to be. If it should be translated, it’s probably best that the writer itself who does it, or at least, be involved in the translating process.”
As the time goes by, I have this unstoppable-urge to read the book. So, I feel tingled to read the English version -of course I will make sure my Oxford Advanced Dictionary stay close to me;)
No..No..I haven’t read it yet, but I already got the eBook. I will buy the book eventually, but right now, due to my impossible financial condition, I prefer to download it…hehehe
Here’s something that I got when I was searching for a free-downloadable ebook of Mitch Albom’s. Well, It is some kind like summary of Five People You Meet in Heaven. Just click summary-of-five-people-you-meet-in-heaven to read the .pdf version. It’s only 2 pages!
For instance, here’s some great words to be quoted in ‘Five People You Meet in Heaven’ !
“No life is a waste. The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone” (p.50)
“Sacrifice is part of life. It’s not something to regret. It’s something to aspire to.” (p.93)
“No one is born with anger. And when we die, the soul is freed of it. But, now, here, in order to move on, you must understand why you felt what you did, and why you no longer need to feel it… You need to forgive your father.” (p.142)
“Life has to end… Love doesn’t”
Feel free to contemplate the meaning of those quotation. If you’re interested, just buy the book! Wekekekek;)
Happy reading!
.:the stories behind me:. | Comments (9)Saya bukan SMS Person…
Lagi jatuh cinta sama karakternya si Richard Kevin (Dion) (Untuk Dista, jangan ngamuk ya, Richard Kevin is NOT my type;) hehehe) di film ‘From Bandung With Love’ (FBWL). Pengennya punya cowok kayak begitu…
Ini ada satu adegan di film itu…
Dion : Ve ada, Tante?
Nyokap Vega: Dia lagi pergi, Emang gak bilang sama kamu?
Dion : Gak
Nyokap Vega : Udah telepon?
Dion : Udah, tapi gak diangkat
Nyokap Vega: Udah coba SMS?
Dion: Saya bukan SMS Person…
Aneh ada cowok yang begitu, tapi ternyata emang bener ada ya? (punya cowok tipe begini? gw tunggu share-nya)
Cowokku jarang sms, sukanya telepon. Padahal pengennya dapat sms dari dia…
Mungkin dia emang tipe yang bukan SMS person. Ini juga udah pernah dibahas, tapi memang sudah seperti itu, ya, gw ga pengen dia berubah kalau cuma merasa ‘dipaksa’ harus begitu. Biarlah semua datang dari hati…
Seperti yang pernah gw bilang, dia gak sempurna;(
Tapi semoga cintanya sempurna buat gw…halah:) –> Nanti ada yang bilang lagi kalau gw lagi ‘predictable banget akhir2 ini :p wink’
PS. Benciiii banget liat ending-nya film FBWL…;(
I HATE SAD-ENDING STORY!
Dasar Cengeng! ;(
Gw nangis hanya karena nonton film LOVE di RCTI. Entah kenapa, tapi rasanya semua perasaan di dada gw campur aduk;(
Banyak hal terkenang kembali
:
Kesedihan menanti dan berharap akan datangnya seseorang dalam hidup gw.
Sakitnya dikecewakan dan tak berbalas.
Kesendirian saat harus ditinggalkan.
Pedihnya pengkhianatan.
Cemasnya penantian.
Hingga akhirnya…
Bahagianya memiliki perasaan cinta yang berbalas.
Indahnya berjalan di sepanjang jembatan busway, berdiri di sepanjang perjalanannya.
Bergandengan tangan di sepanjang jalanan yang sinarnya terik menembus kulit.
Indahnya senyuman saat menerima sms dan teleponnya.
dan semua rasa lainnya yang bercampur dan sulit kuungkapkan…
Memori ini muncul dengan jelas di benak gw di sepanjang durasi film ini.
Pada akhirnya, tidak ada sempurna di dunia ini, selain cinta itu sendiri.
.:the stories behind me:. | Comment (1)