Ultimate in Diversity. This is the new slogan of Indonesian Tourism Year 2007. Hope that the new slogan will success attracting
7 million foreign tourists. Why 7 million? Because this is the number that Indonesian
government''s set as a target to reach.Is it sound realistic? Actually, yes. Louvre museum in Paris records 7 million visits every year. British museum has 5 million. And Disneyland records 14 million people take a trip inside the mickey mouse castle. It means, the target 7 million is not impossible to deal with. The problem is, what does Indonesia offer to the world so it can appear to be different? Without changes on Indonesia''s tourism concept, is it possible to attract foreigners?From the author''s perspective, the first challenge is that Indonesia''s government doesn''t have self-pride for its own country. How come Malaysia could claim "Rasa Sayange" as their song? A couple of years ago, the author went to Kuching, Malaysia, to attend Sarawak Cultural Village. At the end of the show, the stage performed a high quality half-an-hour Dayak culture, with all of the performers sing "Malaysia Truly Asia". How come the government of Malaysia that create such a lovely performance, not Indonesian?A couple of years ahead, Indonesia will be surrounded by countries that have high attraction value. Let''s say Malaysia. Malaysia has developed Malacca, Penang, Langkawi island, Tioman island, and other spots into a heavenly beautiful place. Or Singapore, after years of reclamation, their government has set up a giant ferris wheel that would be the biggest ferris wheel in the world. How about Thailand? Their well-known beautiful beaches will tempting european and american tourist that want to tan their skin.Another tourism strategy that Indonesian should adapt is the
friendly services we should give to tourists. Bali''s Kuta beach and Lombok''s Senggigi could defeat Thailand''s Puket easily. But what make Puket different? It is the friendly smile of Siamese and their sincere help for showing the way that make the tourists feel comfortable.Finally, a slogan is meaningless if Indonesia doesn''t change.