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.

Speak Up! |