Authentic souvernirs wanting at Jakarta tourist attractions

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta may be a city where you can find most things. But when it comes to souvenirs to remind you of your stay, things can get exceptionally difficult.

In the capital cities of neighboring countries, tourism operators and businesspeople have long sold souvenirs such as fridge magnets depicting Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Tower, Manila's shell handicrafts or the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum.

Back home, the souvenir stalls at Jakarta's tourists spots offer little more than poor-quality T-shirts, paper or plastic fans bearing pictures of Nickelodeon cartoon characters and souvenirs from other provinces.

T-shirts decorated with a picture of a bajaj and the word "Batavia" can be bought for Rp 15,000 (about US$1.80) at garment wholesale markets like Pasar Pagi, Mangga Dua.

"Most people who buy these T-shirts are people from outside the city or those who want to make a donation," a trader said.

Poor quality material and unattractive designs have turned off many people, who see even the modest Rp 15,000 price tag as asking too much.

At the National Monument (Monas) -- a well recognized symbol of Jakarta that attracts foreign and local tourists -- many vendors sell souvenirs that have little or nothing to do with the capital at all.

Most vendors at the monument ground, instead, offer wooden statues of Lombok and Asmat.

"I don't think Jakarta really has something interesting that can be made into souvenirs. Besides, souvenir makers here seem not to be interested in making authentic souvenirs of Jakarta," said Ujang, one of the souvenir vendors.

Like most vendors at Monas, Ujang sells the wooden statues, which are supplied weekly by artisans based in Cileunyi, Bandung.

Ben Sukma, President of the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies, said Jakarta had no natural attractions to offer.

"Unlike Bogor or other cities that have natural recreational sites, Jakarta can only count on man-made resorts, and that's what metropolitan cities usually count on," he said.

He added that governments and the private sector had to take leading roles in building tourist attractions.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of foreign tourists arriving in Jakarta in January 2007 was 92,117, while in December 2006 the number was 104,608. In April it reached 104,081, just 0.05 percent lower than March's figure of 104,133.

Sapta Nirwanda, the secretary general of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said low demand for authentic Jakarta souvenirs meant few businesses were willing to produce them.

Sapta said the ministry had yet to take up the lack of Jakarta-specific souvenirs as an issue because vendors selling souvenirs from outside Jakarta were helping tourism in other provinces.

"It's fine as long as they're still selling souvenirs from other provinces," he said.

Meanwhile, the city's tourism agency has blamed the private sector for not seriously promoting places of interest in Jakarta.

"People may know that Jakarta has Ragunan zoo and Ancol recreation park. But actually we also have other good places for having fun," said Eko Guruh, a Jakarta Tourism Agency spokesman.

But he said a lack of interest from the private sector to come up with investment had hampered tourism development in Jakarta.

Eko said that, for example, car or noodle factories in the capital could make great tourist attractions.

"We could take elementary school students on city tours to those factories and show them how to make noodles or cars," Eko said. "They can have fun while gaining more knowledge."

The Dutch architecture of Jakarta's Old Town and the fish markets in Angke, North Jakarta, could also be interesting to visitors, he said.