Reappointment of Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism

Indonesian people are rather shy and tend to feel upset to express
their feeling in public. During the Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME

Indonesian people are rather shy and tend to feel upset to express
their feeling in public. During the Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME
Pasar Wisata) in Lombok, information that Jero Wacik, incumbent
Minister of tourism, was reappointed into his position generated
however unanimous comments… unfortunately all negative. According to
most people asked about the Minister, it is rather a disappointment.
“He never showed a strong commitment to our industry”, said an
executive working for a travel agency. “He should be better named
Minister of Tourism for Bali as he rarely promotes the rest of
Indonesia. Bali is very successful on its own. The Minister should then
be more supportive to the development of other areas,” comments the
Head of Culture and Tourism of an Indonesian Province. Wacik’s natural
inclination to promote Bali comes from the fact that he is himself a
native Balinese.
 
“We would appreciate so much to get a professional who really care
about us,” said an hotelier. And many of the travel industry still
speaks about Joop Ave, a very outspoken figure for tourism who served
during the Suharto time. The industry is rather angry that the
government –once more- continues to show little commitment to tourism
by appointing somebody rather for his political connections than for
his knowledge of the industry. All Indonesians present at TIME- Pasar
Wisata believes that the government sent again the wrong signal for an
industry which really needs to be defined as a national priority for
the development of the country.  There is only one hope: Indonesia’s
decentralization gave a large saying to Provinces in tourism matters.
And many governors see now tourism as their best chance to bring
prosperity to local people in a relative short time… and assure them of
reelection.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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