Government Needs to Tackle Obstacles In Tourism
Government Needs to Tackle Obstacles In Tourism
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JAKARTA - Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Agus Martowardojo urged the government to tackle obstacles hampering the development of the tourism industry in three sectors: access, attractions and supporting capacity.
Agus said Indonesia still lacks access to its tourism objects and main destinations. The lack of access hampers the development of tourism in the region and reduces the economic benefit that could be earned by the local people.
"Access is important because tourists need connectivity. We see that huge potential could be earned from tourist visits if we have adequate access," the BI governor said on the sidelines of a coordination meeting between the central-regional governments and the BI or the central bank on Friday (13/11/2015).
According to the central bank governor, the other challenge is how the central and regional governments, as well the private sector, can make the tourism destination attractive. This is needed, owing to the fact that the neighboring countries in Southeast Asia are also preparing their tourism destinations.
On the supporting capacity, he promised that in the future, the monetary authorities will provide incentives to banks that maintain the quantity and quality of their financing facilities for small and medium scale businesses (UMKM), which are doing business in the tourism sector.
"We can give incentives to banks so that they could be empowered to expand credits to the UMKM," he said.
The government has designated 10 tourism destinations, which will become the focus of development to increase the number of arrivals of tourists.
The ten destinations are Lake Toba in North Sumatra, the Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), the Morotai in North Maluku, the Tanjung Lesung in Banten, the Labuan Bajo in NTB, the Seribu Islands in Jakarta, the Bromo Tengger Semeru in East Java, the Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi, the Balitung Island and Yogyakarta.
The development of the tourism destination is expected to increase the state foreign exchange earning to US$20 billion in the next five years, from the current US$10 billion.
During the coordination meeting, Agus said that BI and the central-regional governments agreed to accelerate the development of Kulonprogo Airport in Yogyakarta because traffic at the existing Adi Sucipto Airport has increasingly been very busy.
He said that if the government maintains its commitment to developing the tourism infrastructure, the development of Kulonprogro airport could be expedited and could begin during the June-September 2016 period.
"We have heard the commitment that the land clearance for the airport would be finished in the June-September 2016 period. So, its development could soon start," Agus said.
Apart from the tourism sector, the BI also encouraged the acceleration of industrial development. According to Agus, if the industrial and tourism sectors could optimally be developed this year, it will contribute much to economic growth.
This is in line with the transformation of the Indonesian economy from a country relying on raw material exports to a nation reinforced by downstream industries and tourism.
"It could generate economic growth that will reach 5.2-5.6 percent in 2016 based on our target. For Java, we think its economic growth will reach 5.49 percent," he said.
Agus said Indonesia still lacks access to its tourism objects and main destinations. The lack of access hampers the development of tourism in the region and reduces the economic benefit that could be earned by the local people.
"Access is important because tourists need connectivity. We see that huge potential could be earned from tourist visits if we have adequate access," the BI governor said on the sidelines of a coordination meeting between the central-regional governments and the BI or the central bank on Friday (13/11/2015).
According to the central bank governor, the other challenge is how the central and regional governments, as well the private sector, can make the tourism destination attractive. This is needed, owing to the fact that the neighboring countries in Southeast Asia are also preparing their tourism destinations.
On the supporting capacity, he promised that in the future, the monetary authorities will provide incentives to banks that maintain the quantity and quality of their financing facilities for small and medium scale businesses (UMKM), which are doing business in the tourism sector.
"We can give incentives to banks so that they could be empowered to expand credits to the UMKM," he said.
The government has designated 10 tourism destinations, which will become the focus of development to increase the number of arrivals of tourists.
The ten destinations are Lake Toba in North Sumatra, the Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), the Morotai in North Maluku, the Tanjung Lesung in Banten, the Labuan Bajo in NTB, the Seribu Islands in Jakarta, the Bromo Tengger Semeru in East Java, the Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi, the Balitung Island and Yogyakarta.
The development of the tourism destination is expected to increase the state foreign exchange earning to US$20 billion in the next five years, from the current US$10 billion.
During the coordination meeting, Agus said that BI and the central-regional governments agreed to accelerate the development of Kulonprogo Airport in Yogyakarta because traffic at the existing Adi Sucipto Airport has increasingly been very busy.
He said that if the government maintains its commitment to developing the tourism infrastructure, the development of Kulonprogro airport could be expedited and could begin during the June-September 2016 period.
"We have heard the commitment that the land clearance for the airport would be finished in the June-September 2016 period. So, its development could soon start," Agus said.
Apart from the tourism sector, the BI also encouraged the acceleration of industrial development. According to Agus, if the industrial and tourism sectors could optimally be developed this year, it will contribute much to economic growth.
This is in line with the transformation of the Indonesian economy from a country relying on raw material exports to a nation reinforced by downstream industries and tourism.
"It could generate economic growth that will reach 5.2-5.6 percent in 2016 based on our target. For Java, we think its economic growth will reach 5.49 percent," he said.
(alv)
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