Mbak Nuki, komentar tentang jualan-nya Malaysia ini  jadi inget  
artikel yang ditulis seorang analis Andry Asmoro di JP beberapa waktu  
lalu.  Saya kutipkan dibawah saja untuk lengkapnya.

Dari artikel itu disebutkan bahwa Malaysia menghabiskan US$80 juta  
untuk promosi pariwisatanya, Singapura malah lebih gila2an dengan US 
$316.2 juta. Indonesia dalam VIY2008 'hanya' menghabiskan US$15 juta.

Membandingkan dengan Malaysia rasanya kalau ngga adil dilihat dari  
faktor marketing saja. Di sana layanan (services) untuk tourism  
sangat banyak dengan kemampuan bahasa yang sangat bagus. Website dan  
e-commerce sudah tancap gas jauh sebelum Indonesia di era speedy.  
Ketika kita masih berkutat dengan text sms, mereka sudah membangun  
infrastruktur promosi yang lebih matang. Hostel ditawarkan di web  
internasional walau kondisinya so-so, tempat2 ditampilkan dengan  
'indah'.

Sebagai orang Indonesia saya ngiri tapi malah jadi tantangan. Bisa  
ngga sih kita seperti mereka? tanpa mengandalkan pemerintah, bergerak  
dari sektor masyarakat saja. Rekan2 yang backpacker ke luar negeri,  
promosikan Indonesia. Tunjukkan banyak tempat yang jauh lebih indah  
dari Malaka, jauh lebih bersejarah dari Malaka. Tinggal kita ini di  
Indonesia untuk menggali sendiri potensi, memberitahukan dunia betapa  
ngga kalah Indonesia dengan negara lainnya.

Salam,
Ambar

=========================================


RI's tourism sector: Missing the boat again

Andry Asmoro ,  Analyst   |  Wed, 09/17/2008 10:28 AM  |  Business

Interestingly, with the third quarter of 2008 almost out of the way  
we have seen some major highlights in macroeconomic indicators but  
only little attention in the way of the government's national  
program: Visit Indonesia Year 2008.

Let's face it, the tourism sector is simply unloved by the government  
who are preferring to focus on politics in the lead up to the 2009  
elections. Many of us had forgotten we had such a grand program to  
promote our country's unique cultures and beautiful scenery.

However, in the spirit of the national tourism, let's recap the  
government's 2008 target of attracting 7 million foreign tourists to  
Indonesia -- which many said was completely unrealistic at the  
beginning of the year.

This was mainly because at the end of 2007 the total number of  
tourists recorded at its 11 main ports of entry was only about 4.3  
million.

It was clear that the task of obtaining an additional 3 million in  
2008 would be extremely difficult, not only because of lower global  
economic growth, but also on the back of the country's worsening  
domestic infrastructure.

Surprisingly, from a global perspective (according to UNWTO World  
Tourism Barometer) international tourism remained relatively stable  
and grew around 5 percent between January and April, 2008, compared  
to the same period in 2007.

All sub-regions posted positive results in the first four months of  
the year. Growth was fastest in the Middle East, North-East and South  
Asia, as well as Central and South America. Thus, the global economic  
imbalance appeared to have had relatively little impact on tourism in  
general -- at least thus far.

Moreover, a variety of destination countries around the globe had  
reported double-digit growth rates in the first three to five months  
of 2008, including countries in the Asia-Pacific like China, Japan,  
Korea, Macao (China), Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Fiji, India and  
Nepal.

So who were the visitors to Indonesia?

Taking a closer look at the profile of those who visited Indonesia,  
we learned that about 78 percent came from Asia, and 41 percent came  
from South East Asian (ASEAN) countries.

In fact, according to the 2007 Tourism Database, 45 percent of  
foreign visitors to ASEAN countries were originally from ASEAN  
countries.

The next biggest country/regional source of visitors to ASEAN  
countries were the European Union, China, Japan and Korea. In  
summary, Asian countries are the main sources of visitors to ASEAN  
countries or about 70 percent of the total.

The above figures show that the Indonesian tourism industry faces  
stiff competition from other ASEAN countries. The Central Statistics  
Agency recently announced that the total number of tourists who  
visited Indonesia in the first 7 months of this year had reached some  
3.5 million people, an increase of 11.4 percent from a year earlier.

While this double-digit growth rate is higher than Malaysia's 3.9  
percent over the same period, their total number of tourists, at 12.9  
million, was nearly four times the number who came to Indonesia. Even  
Vietnam, a newcomer within the tourism space, managed to attract 2.62  
million tourists over the same period.

If Indonesia's tourism industry does not receive sufficient attention  
from the government, Vietnam could overtake us in terms of numbers of  
visitors, within the next two to three years.

With intense competition from other ASEAN countries, the government  
of Malaysia spent almost US$80 million to promote their country.  
Singapore spent even more, having increased spending by $93.3 million  
to $316.2 million for its tourism promotion board this year.

And how much is the Government of Indonesia spending? A paltry $15  
million.

In our view, spending to promote tourism has not been sufficient to  
win market share. There must be better coordination between  
Indonesian embassies overseas and local governments, to better  
promote Indonesia abroad and locally.

Improving Indonesia's image is a must.

Strategies to attract more visitors must be better formulated amid  
rising energy and food prices, which are likely to influence tourism  
spending.

But specific demand shifts -- determined by disposable income, travel  
budgets and confidence -- will vary from country to country, and from  
region to region, depending on local economies.

Proper studies must be implemented by the Indonesian tourism board  
and the government in order to implement targets for numbers of  
visitors into the country. Without this, Indonesia will continue to  
miss the boat.

The writer is a researcher at Bahana Securities




On 26 Sep 2008, at 19:45, rustini nukita ekorini wrote:

>
> Jadi...( maaf bukan bermaksud merendahkan yang lain) intinya adalah  
> PROMOSI-nya yg menarik , yg hebat.
> I wonder how much budget they spend for promotion ? atau aku rubah  
> pertanyaanku Gimana kita bisa membantu pemerintah mempromosikan  
> pariwisata Indonesia Visit dengan gratis ( lebih hebat lagi  
> kan )....orang kita kan banyak akal...pasti bisa...we will support  
> all that stuff definitely...
> Misalnya, sambil ber-backpacking kita kasih flyer-nya Visit  
> Indonesia atau jangan lupa stick di blog/ website kita, dst.  
> Hey ...itung2 kan biar gak terlalu feel guilty sama devisa kita.
>
> Wah..sudah terlalu jauh membahasnya...
> Thanks buat The Owners of IBP, Rini dwipatriani, Ivony Margaretta,  
> Niniek, Amalia Nurrahmi, Diana, Erickson Jhon, Lucia, Sandi Taruni  
> & Teman2 IBP lainnya dengan segala kerendahan hati kami mengucapkan :
>
> " SELAMAT HARI RAYA IDHUL FITRI & MAAF LAHIR & BATHIN "
>
> Salam IBP,
>
> NF
>



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