Deja vu. 50,000 excuses why tourists do not come to Indonesia except the real reasons. This time its the Government not allocating enough funds.The real question is whether the federal authorities are in fact spending their funds wisely and without massive leakage to individuals’ pockets.

One of the reasons why tourists go elsewhere is that they get better bang for their bucks than Indonesia. The food here is more expensive than, say, KL. The infrastructure is almost non existant.

The only things cheap and good here are the pembantu-type entertainers at unsavory bars, partying at Stadium and other night spots and golf for the om om genit from Seberang. They are not exactly the type of tourists that Indonesia wants to attract.

clipped from thejakartapost.com
Funding squeeze blamed for tourism woes
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, MedanA lack of funding to promote tourism in Indonesia internationally is largely responsible for a steady decline in the number of foreign tourists visiting the country, an official from the Culture and Tourism Ministry said Saturday.

After more than 5.3 million foreign tourists visited the country in 2004, the ministry recorded a drop to approximately five million visitors in 2005 and 4.7 million visitors in 2006.

Deputy of Resources at the Culture and Tourism Ministry Putu Laksaguna said the government allocates insufficient funding to develop Indonesia’s tourism potential, resulting in many regions not being promoted internationally.

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