Cruise Ship Tourism Improves
SURABAYA, KOMPAS – The potential of foreign tourists arriving by cruise ships is large. This potential can be maximized by, for one, repairing seaports.
The number of foreign tourists coming to Indonesia on cruise ships is increasing, with Bali and Lombok being favorite destinations. More attractive tourist sites, port infrastructure and security will help boost arrivals.
Operations and commercial director Putut Sri Muljanto of state-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) III in Surabaya, East Java, said on Monday (Feb. 25, 2019) that 40 cruise ships were scheduled this year to make 153 calls at ports under Pelindo III management. More than 50 percent of the vessels were expected to make port in Bali.
The cruise ships are to arrive at 12 ports in five provinces. Bali is a favorite destination with 81 port calls, followed by West Nusa Tenggara with 20 calls, and East Nusa Tenggara with 7 calls. Java is expecting 29 calls in East Java and 16 calls in Central Java.
“The number of port calls can still increase or decrease, depending on the situation and conditions in the destination city, such as [possible] travel warnings,” said Putut.
Pelindo III data shows a growth in cruise ship arrivals to Indonesia in the last three years, with 108 cruise ships arriving in 2016 and then increasing the following year to 135 arrivals. Out of the 149 planned arrivals in 2018, 138 cruise ships made port in the country. The number of foreign tourists traveling on cruise ships also increased to 125,218 tourists in 2018, up 70 percent from the previous year’s figure of 88,778 tourists.
Putut said that several important factors affected cruise ship landings, including the destination’s attractiveness, the availability of port infrastructure and local security conditions. For example, last year saw fewer landings than targeted because of the Surabaya bombing tragedy and the Lombok earthquake. Cruise ship operators canceled the trips because they did not want to take security risks with unstable conditions at a destination port.
Pelindo III also continued to improve port infrastructure, including deepening the waterways at Benoa Port from its previous low water spring (LWS) of 11 meters and a mean sea level (MSL) of 13 meters. The berths at the east pier were also deepened from 9 meters LWS to 12 meters LWS. In addition, passenger terminals were repaired so that their capacity also increased.
“Large vessels of more than 250 meters could only dock outside the port, [and] now they can dock at the berths. This will add to the [level of] comfort for tourists,” said Putut.
Pelindo III corporate secretary Faruq Hidayat added that cruise ship tourism was an effective way to bring in foreign tourists. One cruise ship could transport thousands of tourists, with Genting Dream having a passenger capacity of 3,400 and Carnival Splendor with a 3,619 capacity. “We believe that the number of cruise ship tourists will continue to grow along with improvements in the tourism sector,” he said.
Surabaya Culture and Tourism Agency head Antiek Sugiharti expressed hope that tourists would spend more time in the city, if the average duration of cruise ships’ stay at Surabaya’s ports was increased from 6 hours to 12 hours. To that end, the agency was adding tourist destinations in the city for foreign tourists, such as in the Kota Lama (Old City) area of northern Surabaya. “As the ‘City of Heroes’, Surabaya has interesting historical tourist attractions [for visitors],” she said.
Mentawai Tourism
Tourism in the main island of Mentawai Islands regency, West Sumatra, is not as extensive as its marine tourism, and has therefore not impacted residents in the region.
Citra Mandiri Mentawai Foundation (YCMM), an organization that advocates for the rights of the Mentawai people, said Mentawai focused on coastal and maritime tourism, while inland areas remained untouched by tourism development.
According to the YCMM’s Riki Hendra Mulya, the Mentawai inlands also had tourism potential with its forests and waterfalls, and the well-preserved Mentawai culture.
Mentawai Islands Tourism, Youth and Sports Agency head Desti Seminora admitted that local tourism was oriented in coastal and maritime tourism, and that it would eventually prepare inland tours. (SYA/ZAK)