Focus on "Quality Tourists"

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Foreign tourists take photos against a backdrop of terraced rice fields on 9 Aug. 2019 in Jatiluwih village, Penebel, Tabanan regency, Bali.

The quality of foreign tourists is determined according to their length of stay and spending. The Indonesian tourism industry is eyeing an increase in “quality tourists” in 2020-2024.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Tourism development in the next five years is to focus on the quality of tourist visits. The quality of a tourist’s visit is determined according their individual length of stay and tourist expenditure.

Around 10.2 million foreign tourists visited Indonesia in 2015. The figure increased to 11.5 million in 2016 and 14 million in 2017, and to 15.8 million in 2018.

National Development Planning Minister/National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) head Bambang P.S. Brodjonegoro said on Monday (14/10/2019) at the Sustainable Development Tourism discussion in Jakarta that the tourism development paradigm needed to change.

The 2015-2019 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) solely focused on the number of tourist arrivals, while tourism development in the 2020-2024 RPJMN focused beyond that, on tourism quality.

KOMPAS/WISNU WIDIANTORO

Katrin (left) serves a customer on 23 Aug. 2019 at her Ami Sasirangan fabric store in Kampoeng BNI Sasirangan of Seberang Mesjid district in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. The village has become a key tourist destination in Banjarmasin, and is always crowded during the holiday season and large public events.

"Indonesia needs quality tourists. In short, how [to make] tourists spend more money. There are two keys, increasing the length of stay and to improve the variety of tourist attractions," he said.

Bappenas data shows that foreign exchange revenue from tourism had continued to increase in 2015-2018. In 2015, Indonesia earned around US$12.2 billion in forex revenue, which increased to $19.3 billion in 2018.

Meanwhile, the average daily expenditure per capita of foreign tourists had fluctuated. The average daily expenditure of foreign tourists in 2015 was $1,208 per capita, which fell to $1,168 in 2016. The average daily expenditure per foreign tourist in 2017 was $1,085, which increased to $1,220 in 2018.

Capacity

Bambang said he hoped the strategy would help increase forex revenue from tourism, which would ultimately increase state revenues. As for creating varied tourist activities, all industry stakeholders must be ready. The capacity and competence of human resources in tourism must be improved.

Bambang said that Indonesia’s tourism competitiveness, particularly in the aspect of environmental sustainability, ranked 130th on the World Economic Forum (WEF) Tourism Competitiveness Index.

Tourism Ministry economics and tourism expert staffer Anang Sutono said that some regional administrations and industry players had started developing new attractions. For example, he said, Bandung’s Ciwidey subdistrict had expanded its tourism offers to luxury camping.

Meanwhile, Indonesia Hotels and Restaurants Association chair Haryadi B. Sukamdani said that the global economy had an impact on tourist arrivals. The tourism marketing strategy must be strengthened to boost arrivals of quality tourists.

KOMPAS/WISNU WIDIANTORO

A parade of jukung (wooden boats) sails down the Martapura River to join the opening ceremony for the 2019 Floating Market Cultural Tourism Festival on 23 Aug. 2019 in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.

Vice dean for education, research and student affairs Beta Yulianita Gitaharie of the University of Indonesia economics and business school said that the concept of sustainable tourism focused on environmental sustainability. (MED)