Jakarta Globe, Lenny Tristia Tambun, January 14, 2014
Five new double-decker buses arrive at Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta on Jan. 13, 2014. (JG Photo/Lenny Tristia Tambun) |
The Jakarta
Tourism Agency welcomed the arrival of five double-decker tour buses Monday
night as the capital, long listed as a sight best left unseen on a visit to
Indonesia, began an aggressive push to double the number of foreign tourists
visiting the city.
“We thank
God that Jakarta will finally have city tour buses,” tourism head Arie Budhiman
said as the buses arrived at Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta. “We hope with
the double-decker tour buses that Jakarta will have a different thing to offer
than other towns [in Indonesia]. Hopefully Jakarta will become more attractive
and draw more visitors.”
Jakarta
logged 2.3 million foreign tourists last year, an 8 percent increase over
2012′s figures, but still short of Governor Joko Widodo’s five-million tourist
goal. The capital’s administration spent Rp 17 billion ($1.4 million) to
purchase the fleet of buses from China. It plans to expand the fleet to include
as many as 20 buses in the near future.
“With the
support of the governor, who is very tourism conscious, I’m optimistic that the
target [of five million visitors] can be reached in three to five years,” Arie
said.
The tour
buses will offer visitors a free ride through the capital, stopping at sights
like the Hotel Indonesia roundabout, Kota Tua, in North Jakarta, and the Blok M
shopping hub, in South Jakarta. Each air-conditioned bus can hold 60 passengers
and includes television screens that will be used to show a tourism video.
Bus service
will begin a trial run on Thursday, with full service going into effect by the
end early February at the latest, Arie said.
Jakarta may
feature a rich colonial history, but the capital’s congestion and pollution,
combined with poor maintenance of its museums and historical sites has done
little to help its appeal to foreign tourists. The popular guidebook company
“Lonely Planet” describes the capital as “a hard city to love. One of the
world’s greatest megalopolises, its grey, relentlessly urban sprawl spreads for
tens of kilometers across a flood-prone plain with barely a park to break the
concrete monotony.”
The
guidebook later lists several sites, including Kota Tua and Taman Ismail
Marzuki, as popular locations, calling the city an “essential” stop for
travelers looking to experience all Indonesia has to offer.
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