Indonesia 81st in Global Tourism Surve

Indonesia ranked 81st out of 133 countries in a global tourism competitiveness report, indicating that the country needed more improvements to boost the tourism sector, an analyst said. “More focused, integrated promotions are needed to boost tourism, especially during the global economic downturn,” said Ben Sukma, the head of Association of Indonesia Tours and Travels. The survey was conducted by the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum.

It was called the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009.

As a first step toward greater competitiveness, Sukma said, the government should create tourist maps for all regions based on their potential, population, infrastructure, accessibility and tourist destinations as a first step.

“Mapping will help make government efforts in tourism more effective, which should result more income from tourism,” he said, adding that Indonesia ranked 82nd last year.

Among Southeast Asian countries, Singapore topped the list at 10th, Malaysia was ranked 32nd, Thailand 39th, and Brunei 69th.

The Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia finished 86th, 89th and 108th, respectively.

Topping the international list overall were Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

Sukma also criticized the government for not properly protecting tourist and heritage sites such as temples and beaches.

“Many sites are not well taken care of. The central government needs to cooperate more closely with their counterparts at local government levels to preserve the sites,” he said.

For example, based on figures from the ministry’s archeological heritage department, up to 5,800 cultural sites across the archipelago have been left in disrepair. Many are in danger of falling apart due to continued neglect.

There were some 7,400 cultural heritage sites registered across the country, but only 1,600 of them were well-maintained, usually by local residents.

Sukma said the lack of maintenance was partly caused by the country’s decentralization, which made the central government less responsible for the protection of the sites.

Separately, the ministry’s spokesman, Surya Dharma, said the survey was unfair.

“Indonesia is a big country and the facilities to support tourism vary greatly from region to region,” Dharma said.

“Singapore can get a high ranking because, as a small island country, it is much easier for their government to manage the tourism sector.”