By: Franky *)
Tourist arrivals grew throughout 2014 but still remain a mere shadow of those for regional competitors Malaysia and Thailand. Now the new minister, Arief Yahya, will use the experience gained from his background in telecommunications to multiply the impact of the country’s tourism marketing endeavors. Newly-appointed Tourism Minister Arief Yahya is upbeat on promoting digital marketing via internet to boost Indonesia’s tourism sector. In his outlook for 2015, Arief said the digital approach has the capacity to reach out to more people and persuade them to visit the country.
Elaborating on his programs, Arief is launching an e-tourism promotion which includes an application called iWOW, which provides information on tourism spots in the archipelago, flights, hotel rooms, how to get to place and promotion.
The application also enables tourist to share their travel experiences with other users and is expected to become an effective promotional tool. It can be downloaded on smartphones and is offered in several languages: Indonesian, English, Chinese and Japanese.
The ministry is working with inTouch Innovative Indonesia and MarkPlus Center for Tourism & Hospitality to release application. Hermawan Kartajaya, the founder and president of MarkPlus, praises Arief’s move to take advantage of digital technology to promote the country’s potential, saying that it is a small initiative that could bring a quick win. Improving the country’s infrastructure will take at least three years while digital marketing can be done in a shorter period of time and with a wider reach.
Yanti Sukamdani, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), agreed that digital marketing is an effective and low-cost marketing tool but added that it could be backfire if the government does not support it with sufficient infrastructure and accessibility. “The government has to pay attention to flight frequencies, seat capacity, connectivity, and accessibility because it could be backfire if all those aren’t ready. We can’t just promote our tourism potential and the leave tourists disappointed due to lack of infrastructure,” she said.
*) The Author Is Papua Regional Contributors