Semarang 10K One of Semarang 10K runners takes time to take pictures with the background of Sam Poo Kong Temple, Semarang city, Central Java, Friday (14/12/2018). The running event is a part of the tourism promotion in the city of Semarang.
With its wealth of historical tourism sites, Semarang has the potential to become a world-class travel destination. Supported by various infrastructures, the city is slowly transforming into a gate of Central Java tourism.
The sky was getting dark as two teenagers took turns taking photographs at a corner in the second floor of the back wing of the historical Lawang Sewu building. At the same floor, children were walking on the corridor while listening to their teacher’s explanations. The romanticism of the 114-year-old building is inescapable as its lights were turned on.
“It’s more romantic in the evening. You can really feel the classic atmosphere,” said Cintya, 19, who visited from Bandung with four of her friends on Wednesday (12/12/2018).
According to Cintya, Lawang Sewu was easily reachable as it was in downtown Semarang, near the Tugu Muda (Youth Monument) roundabout. Furthermore, the building, which used to house the headquarters of private railway company Nederlands Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NIS), is highly instagrammable.
Up to 2008, the two-hectare building complex was covered by overgrowth. At night, homeless people and sex workers roamed the area.
Nostalgia
A revitalization project by state railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), as the building’s owner, slowly transformed Lawang Sewu into a tourism magnet. Nowadays, its reputation as a haunted place is a history. Data from PT KAI’s IV regional operational office in Semarang shows that 2,000 people visit Lawang Sewu on average every day. Throughout 2017, almost one million travelers visited the building.
Semarang has so many more than just Lawang Sewu. With its wealth of historical and classical buildings, the city offers a uniquely romantic and nostalgic tourism. The Protestant Church in Western Indonesia (GPIB) Immanuel, popularly known as Blenduk Church, is an icon of Semarang’s old town.
Apart from domestic tourists, foreign travelers are also amazed by the building. UK traveler Ludwig Stevenson, 43, could not stop taking photographs of the Blenduk Church on Wednesday afternoon. He was aiming his lens towards the church, which was built in 1753, from the alleyway across the street from it.
“If you take a picture of it from down below, it looks great. The dome looks grand,” he said. The casual photographer said that he had spent three days taking photographs of buildings in Semarang’s old town.
Ludwig said that, compared to Jakarta’s old town, Semarang’s old town was far more interesting. Other than that it has many more buildings, the complex is also more ce
ntralized. City records show that there are 105 historical buildings in the old town area.
Apart from the government, locals were also involved in promoting themed tourism based on local uniqueness. Once dirty, the dense-populated neighborhoods are no brimming with charm.
The Batik Semarang village in Rejomulyo sub-district, East Semarang, is an example. The small alleyways in the village offers visitors with various batik-themed murals, including on the houses’ walls, the paved roads and entrance gates.
Batik village co-initiator Luwi Yanto said that locals revived their ancestral legacies through tourism packages. Apart from selling batiks, the village also often holds arts events.
The Semarang city administration records show that the city received 5.65 million travelers, comprising 5.5 million Indonesians and 156,000 foreigners, in 2017. This was three times the number of travelers in 2011, which was 2.09 million travelers.
Better infrastructure and access are among the causes of the tourism boom. The opening of a new terminal at the Ahmad Yani International Airport and the soon-to-open Batang-Semarang toll road support access to the city.
Semarang culture and tourism agency acting head Litani Satyawati said that the agency tried to improve the city’s tourism attractiveness.
Semarang mayor Hendrar Prihadi said that holding more international tourism events was among the city’s strategies to increase the number of incoming travelers. After holding the Semarang Night Carnival that involved participants from five countries, the city also hosted the Motocross Grand Prix (MXGP) in July.
The next international event to be held in Semarang in the Semarang 10K run on Sunday (16/12), organized in collaboration between Kompas daily and the Semarang city administration. The event will involve 2,000 participants, including 14 from France, Kenya, Malaysia, Portugal and the US. (GREGORIUS MAGNUS FINESSO/ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA)
