Indonesia proposes to link tourism sites across Asean
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INDONESIA'S Tourism Ministry plans to work with Asean counterparts to draw up cultural tourism packages that will connect domestic sites with various destinations in neighbouring countries.
The integrated tour package aims to achieve 12 million culture-based visits to Indonesia by 2019.
The ministry’s assistant deputy for cultural tourism destination development Lokot Ahmad Enda said the integrated tour package could be applied, for example, to the Cheng Ho maritime route.
The tour package, named after the legendary Chinese admiral and launched in Indonesia in February, could involve locations in other countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia that Cheng Ho also visited.
“Why not [connect the Cheng Ho package with] Asean too? We think we should have a product that connects all the destinations, with a minimum of three countries [in the package],” he said on Friday.
He said Batam, Semarang in Central Java and Cirebon in West Java were included in the Cheng Ho package and Aceh and Palembang in South Sumatra would be included in the future, and the Cheng Ho Cultural Museum in Malacca could be developed and connected with Indonesian sites.
“Getting 12 million foreign visitors for cultural, religious and historical tourism is very hard to achieve alone,” he said.
Lokot went on to say that the full integration of the tour package would likely be launched during Asean’s 50th anniversary in 2017.
Previous efforts to integrate tourism destinations include the Trail of Civilisation cooperation between Indonesia and five other Asean countries in 2006, which connected Hindu-Buddhism cultural sites such as Borobudur in Indonesia and Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
Tourism, with its high potential as a socioeconomic driver and tool for development, has long been identified as one of the 12 priority sectors that will help speed up the integration of Asean countries.
Based on a European Union Centre report, tourism contributes approximately US$256 billion to Asean’s GDP.
Total tourist arrivals amounted to more than 105 million in 2014, an increase from 102.2 million visits in 2013, according to Asean data.
Meanwhile, Indonesia has long championed its diverse culture, which attracts 60 per cent of foreign visitors, above eco-tourism, which accounts for 35 per cent of total tourist visits.
