Indonesia lost 11 museums last year

Hasyim Widhiarto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 01/15/2010 1:56 PM

At least 11 museums in the country have stopped operating in the last year mainly due to lack of funding, an official from the Tourism and Culture Ministry says.

The ministry's director of museums, Intan Mardiana Napitupulu, said Friday the directorate had obtained the data after conducting a feasibility study prior to the launching of their Visit Museum Year 2010 program in December last year.

”Some museums weren’t regularly open for visitors, while others did not have enough staff to manage the maintenance of their collections” Intan told The Jakarta Post in his office.

With numbers reduced by museums being closed down, Indonesia currently has a total of 272 museums, a half of them run and financially supported by regional administrations.

According to data from the ministry, Indonesia attracted 6.46 million foreign visitors in 2009, a slight increase from 6.2 million visitors a year earlier.

At the end of 2009, the ministry launched the 2010 Visit Museum Year program, expecting the program to help achieve its target of attracting 7 million foreign visitors and drawing 230 million domestic tourist trips this year.