Cempaka Culture and Tourism: Letters : Why doesn't RI invest in tourism?

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Letters : Why doesn't RI invest in tourism?

Tue, 03/24/2009 12:56 PM | The Jakarta Post Reader's Forum

Denni Hooping (the Post, 18 March) wrote a very nice letter pleading not to wait "until nothing is left".

For me as a foreigner (German), Indonesia's richness in so many regards is one of the strong reasons why I simply love to live in this country.

Hence, I am confused why Indonesia has so much difficulty in attracting more tourists. Indonesia's 2008 target of 7 million arrivals seemed to be a stiff one, i.e. with a projected growth of more than 25 percent compared to 2007.

As far as I am concerned, setting a (mid-term) target closer to Thailand's 15 million or Malaysia's 21 million tourists would be the right approach and more in line with Indonesia's potential.

Denni is quite right in saying that Indonesia's current performance is rather on the "lackluster" side, while the government claims success for the achievement of just 6.23 million visitors in 2008.

What can we expect if a good portion of the 2008 tourism promotion budget went on replacing all printed materials, after the grammatical disaster with the slogan ("nation's" changing to become "national awakening").

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism certainly is trying their best and I fully understand all the difficulties in managing complex challenges throughout the entire value-chain of the tourism sector.

However, in order to better exploit the potential of tourism for Indonesia, probably a more coordinated and professional approach would be necessary.

I remember reading about an initiative to install a Tourism Coordination Board. Has there been any progress? With 32 ministers already on the payroll, just one more coordinating minister probably would not be too difficult to justify.

It might be a good investment! Because tourism definitely has substantial economic relevance, promises a good return on investment, together with being a good source of foreign exchange income.

Bank Indonesia's 2008 current account shows a travel inflow of US$ 7.4 billion, 63 percent more compared to 2005. Not peanuts! Since Indonesians obviously also travel abroad, the outflow of foreign exchange already amounts to $5.6 billion (up 56 percent on 2005 figures). The balance of just $1.8 million did not make a big difference to prevent Indonesia's balance of payments suffering in 2008.

The World Economic Forum has just released the 2009 report of their Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index.

Among 133 surveyed countries Indonesia ranks at No. 81 (one down from 2008). Among our "toughest" tourism competitors, Malaysia remained at No. 32, Thailand and India slightly improved to positions to 39 and 62 respectively. And apart from Singapore (No.10) there is another smaller ASEAN country ranked in front of Indonesia . Brunei at No. 69!

What are these countries doing better? We'd better start looking at the weaknesses this survey is revealing to Indonesia. Among them are: Environmental sustainability, safety and security, health and hygiene, tourism infrastructure.

Here, the 2009 government stimulus package of Rp 71.3 trillion immediately comes to mind. Why not reallocate some funds into tourism infrastructure investments? Improving Indonesia's competitiveness certainly is a pre-requisite to capitalizing on the still-good prospects of international tourism.

And may I finally add, Indonesia IS truly Asia, amazing and incredible all combined ... indeed the ultimate in diversity.

Eckart Schumacher
BSD-City, Banten

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1 comment:

Shubhranshu Agarwal said...: Thanks for this thought provoking write-up. Certain promotional schemes, more flexibility in the packages, more facilities of international standards and wider network will improve the conditions.
Adviser travel.justluxe; March 29, 2009 at 3:01 PM