My Indonesia 817 17
Vol. I No.1/10 2013
Miss World Watched by 2 Billion People
beauty pageant was also marked by cultural performances including Balinese Kecak dance, kipas dance and traditional songs. Kecak Dance was performed by 150 children and adult dancers coordinated by artist Ketut Rena. Bali Agung performance presented by Bali Safari also enlivened the grand stage of Miss World 2013 Opening Show, which described the natural beauty and hospitality of the people of Indonesia. This international beauty pageant was followed by 129 contestants from around the world who will compete for the diamondstudded crown and carry out social missions throughout the world. The quarantine for Miss World 2013 was finally officially opened. A total of 129 contestants competed for the crown previously holds by Miss World 2012, Wenxia Yu. ( * )
Indonesian culture and tourism to the world.
The event brings positive impact to tourism in Bali in particular and Indonesia in general. “It was watched by 2 billion people. Incredible! We do not need to campaign anywhere. It a bless for Bali to host the event, we are honored to represent Indonesia, “said Pastika. Implementation of Miss World which was followed by 129 participants was assessed as a good opportunity for Indonesia to introduce
Tourist visit Slightly Went Up in July
ASEAN: the Highest Foreign Tourist Arrival Growth in the World
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outheast Asia (ASEAN) experiences the highest growth in foreign tourist arrival in the world during the period of 2005 to 2012, which is 8.3 percent. Absolute number of international tourists to ASEAN reached 84.6 million or 8.2 percent of total world tourist arrivals in 2012. “ This number has increased by 9.4 percent in 2012. Also in the first half of 2013, there was a 11.3 percent growth occurred, “said Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy ( Menparekraf ) Mari Elka Pangestu. Minister continued with the data and projections from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which showed that the Asia Pacific region experienced the highest growth in foreign tourist arrivals by 6 percent during the period of 2005-2012, amounting to 7 percent in 2012, and by 6.2 percent in the first half of 2013. For the long term, the growth in Asia Pacific was also the highest at 4.9 percent and will increase from 331 million in 2010 to 530 million in 2030. “In other words, the market of foreign tourists visiting Asia Pacific will rise from 22 percent in 2010 to 30 percent in 2030, “ she said. A lot of foreign tourist movement is carried out within the region itself. Statistics show that four out of five tourist arrivals (80 percent) in the world comes from the same region. According to her, a similar proportion was found for foreign tourist visits in Asia Pacific. As for the ASEAN plus 6 (ASEAN plus China, Korea, Japan, Australia - New Zealand and India), the proportion is also close to 80 percent. “ In ASEAN, about 45 percent of foreign tourists visiting ASEAN come from ASEAN, “she said. This is higher than the proportion of intra - ASEAN trade by 25 percent and demonstrates the movement of people rather than goods, distance, and transportation costs seems to be more important. Mari projecting that in long term, the number of tourists to ASEAN will increase almost three times, from 69.9 million in 2010 to 187 million in 2030, or from 7.4 percent of the world share to 10.3 percent in 2030. The main factor explaining this trend is the high growth in Asia Pacific and South-East Asia and the growing middle class with increasing purchasing power continues; opening of the ASEAN countries or economic and political reforms that took place and an increase in the ASEAN regional cooperation. “For the first factor also means the growth of domestic tourists becomes important, especially in big countries, “she said. For example in Indonesia, current income from domestic tourism (about 18 billion U.S. dollars) is two times of foreign tourists (about 9 billion U.S. dollars). “For the second factor the result is an increase in the use of budget airline and more flights, infrastructure development, and a more open visa regime, “she continued. ( * )
Opening Show of Miss World 2013 was closed with the performance of 129 contestants. All of the Miss World 2013 contestants dressed in traditional costumes from 33 provinces in Indonesia at the end of the opening at BICC, Nusa Dua, Sunday ( 8/9 ) night. One by one they appeared in front of the magnificent stage in Mangupura room, Bali International Convention Center (BICC) Westin Hotel, and received great applause from the audiences. Although they are barefeet, but their beauty radiates by wearing traditional clothing entitled Parade Nusantara. Accompanied by the song titled “Bersatulah Indonesia!,” the contestants one -by-one came up to the stage in colorful Indonesian traditional clothes. After that, they hold hands and sang Miss World Olympic song titled We Are One. Surely their beautiful performance amazed the audience. The opening ceremony of the 63-year -old
photo by spc
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ali Governor Made Mangku Pastika expressed his delight over the success of the series of Miss World 2013 activities in Bali. According to Pastika, Miss World 2013 is rich in the nuances of Indonesian culture just like what has been promised by the committee. “If we look at their performances, they are truly Indonesian and we should be proud of them, “said Pastika.
photo by tri wibowo
photo by spc
Spectacular Opening
Mari Elka Pangestu
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umber of foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia in July 2013 showed a decrease in growth rate. This is because July is the month of fasting. According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data center information and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy ( Kemenparekraf ), the number of foreign tourists visit in July 2013 reached as many as 717,784 tourists. This acquisition was up 2.4 percent compared to the same period last year, which was as many as 701, 200 tourists. “ Singapore and Malaysia fell; Singa-
pore fell by 2.9 percent and Malaysia by 13 percent. Growth rate decreased, even so the numbers keep rising, “said Mari Elka Pangestu in Jakarta recently . Not only that, the number of foreign tourists from the Middle East in July 2013 also decreased compared to July 2012. For example, tourist from the United Arab Emirates was down in number by 86.2 %, Bahrain by 65.7 %, and Saudi Arabia by 59.3 %. “There is a plausible reason for this decline, which is due to a matter of the fasting month. Moreover, many tourists come from Muslim countries, “said Mari. Even so, there are several countries that experienced an increase in visits in July 2013 compared to July 2012. Some of them are tourists from the PRC, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Netherlands. “In July 2013, the PRC rose by 29.9 %, Japan by 0.1 %, South Korea by 4 %, and Taiwan by 38.7 %, “ said Mari. However, cumulatively from January to July 2013, the number of foreign tourists coming to Indonesia amounted to
4,872,262 people. This figure is up 6.4 % compared to January-July 2012. Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy was optimistic that the target of foreign tourist visit in 2014 will be achieved. “We remain optimistic that 8.6 million as a moderate target can be achieved, “ added Mari. Mari added that this year there will be a lot of MICE -related events held in Indonesia, which certainly contribute foreign tourist arrival such as Miss World 2013, APEC and the World Culture Forum. The Room Occupancy Rate of star-hotel in 23 provinces in July 2013 reached at an average of 51.20 %, or down 1.12 points, compared with the occupancy rate in July 2012, which recorded 52.32 %. Similarly, when compared to June 2013 , star-hotel room occupancy rate in July 2013 decreased by 5.60 points. The average length of stay of foreigners and Indonesian at star-hotels in 23 provinces during July 2013 was recorded at 2.06 days, an increase of 0.01 points, compared to the period of July 2012. ( * )
Revitalization of Lake Toba Festival 2013
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inistry of Tourism and Creative Economy revitalize the Lake Toba Festival 2013 that was opened by Deputy Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sapta Nirwandar with sports tourism as a tourist icon of North Sumatra. “So far, the activities of Lake Toba Festival are based on project base. It becomes monotonous so we revive its activities by relying on sports tourism and lifting cultural arts, “said Nirwandar. According to him, the revitalization of Lake Toba Festival 2013, which took place on September 8 to 14 had the support from various parties so that it became spectacular with a budget at least Rp 10 billion. “The provincial government just provided Rp3.5 billion, Bank BNI also provided billions of rupiahs in addition to funds from Kemenparekraf and district government, “he explained. Tourism sport and cultural concepts are made for the next five years so that its implementation would be better with proper preparation. “This is a spectacular event; we revive some traditional sports tourism such as Solu Bolon, dragon boat activities typical of Lake Toba. There is also a swimming exhibition around the lake followed by 12 national swimmers and four international swimmers. While another sport is paraglid-
ing landing on the lake and the participants are in the air beating the drum, “Sapta said. The implementation of the different concepts in addition to bringing foreign and domestic tourists back to Lake Toba, will also encourage Batak people who live outside Sumatra to return home such as TB Silalahi , Ruhut Sitompul and other rich Batak people. He would oversee the implementation of the revitalization of Lake Toba Festival opening until the closing on 14 September 2013. “This revitalization should be managed to boost foreign tourists visiting North Sumatra especially with the presence of new airport Kuala Namu. Other monotonous events should also be revitalized, “Sapta said. Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy together with the Government of North Sumatra province, district government of Samosir and Toba and 9 District / City Government held a traditional ceremony Mangebang Solu Bolon to begin Lake Toba Festival 2013. This activity means releasing the boat for the first time into the water after going through traditional ritual of Batak. Meanwhile, Hinca Panjaitan, Director of Sports Lake Toba Festival 2013, added that Solu Mangebang procession is an important event because this ritual is one of the local knowledge that we have and should
be maintained well. In addition to the Solu Bolon, on 9-10 September 2013, as many as two hercules from Halim Perdanakusumah Airport in Jakarta and Abdul Rachman Saleh airport in Malang will fly more than 150 paragliding athletes from DKI Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Pekanbaru, Padang, Bali, Kalimantan and Sulawesi to enliven the festival. Another main sporting event apart from Solu Bolon contest is the World Super Swim that presented exhibition of 4 international swimming champions, namely Thomas Lurz of Germany, Spyridon Gianniotis of Greece, Martina Grimaldi of Italy and Poliana Okimoto of Brazil. People swimming competition is also enlivened by 1000 amateur swimmers. Lake Toba Festival also proudly presents the World Drum Festival involving renowned percussion artists from 7 countries including the United States, Africa, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar and from within the country. In addition, a number of grand cultural agenda such as Sigale - gale Carnival featuring the distinctiveness of indigenous Batak Sigale - gale, gorga, ulos, gondang, Batak mask and Tandok enlivened Lake Toba Festival. ( * )