JAKARTA – When you’re on to a good thing, why stop?
That appears to be the reasoning behind Indonesia’s decision to extend Visit Indonesia Year 2008 into VIY 2009.
Toursm minister Jero Wacik, in an interview with Radar Bali and reported in Bali Update (www.balidiscovery.com), said this year’s international arrival figures for Indonesia confounded those who doubted his decision to launch VIY 2008.
“Just so you know, many people tried to stop me from launching this (Visit Indonesia Year) programme.
“Many were pessimistic because our airports are not ready and our immigration service is not so good. But I forced these people who were not ready.
“In the beginning there were obvious stumbles. Garuda, immigration and the airports were confused. Nevertheless, once underway, immigration in Bali, which had only 10 service gates, was revamped and now has 30 gates.
“Garuda was even late installing the logo for Visit Indonesia Year. But I used my authority as the Minister of Culture and Tourism and continued to lobby (for the programme’s acceptance.)
“In the end, everyone supported “Visit Indonesia Year”.
Wacik says domestic tourism would be the focus of marketing efforts this year.
“This is an election year. This has potential for tourism,†he said.
“There will appear a new business model – ‘political tourism’.
“Just imagine, the consolidation of 38 different parties via the leadership of local and national councils as they campaign in every corner of the country.
“We can already see this starting to happen. So much so that the continuing campaigns will fill accommodation ranging from home stays to five star plus.”
