Indonesia launches “grammatically correct” tourism year
JAKARTA – The Indonesian government officially launched Visit Indonesia Year 2008 this week, with the aim of luring up to seven million foreign tourists and booking US$6.4 billion in foreign exchange income.
To help reach the target, the government is setting aside $15 million for a domestic and international advertising blitz.
“The budget will be used to finance the promotion campaign, especially abroad,” Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik told a media conference.
Last week, the ministry had to revise its tourism slogan when it was pointed out it was grammatically incorrect. “Celebrating 100 years of nation’s awakening” was changed to “100 years of national awakening”.
Garuda Indonesia was forced to repaint 10 planes servicing international routes that had already been daubed with the slogan.
The Jakarta Post said the government’s first Visit Indonesia programme in 1991, “was not particularly successful, increasing the number of foreign tourists by merely 400,000 from the year earlier”.
Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data show that in 1991 around 2.5 million foreign tourists visited the country, from 2.1 million in the previous year.
This year, foreign tourist arrivals are expected to hit 5.5 million, well short of the six million targeted.
Jero said the ministry had so far bought advertising time on several international television channels.
However, the larger portion of the money will be used to finance international forums, where it can effectively introduce and promote the programme.
Thamrin B.Bachri, the ministry’s director general, added that such forums would be held mainly in countries which traditionally provided the most tourists for Indonesia, such as Australia, Singapore, Malaysia Korea and China.
“These international promotion programmes will take the biggest portion of the budget allocation.”
Next year the ministry is set to organise more than 100 international events and cultural festivals across the country.
Ian Jarrett
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Digital Travel Reporter of the Mirror totally seduced by HotelPlanner AI Travel Agent
Strike action set to cause travel chaos at Brussels airports
All eyes on Qatar as Qatar Airways leads a season of global events