North Sumatra neglects tourist sites

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
Head of the North Sumatra Cultural and Tourism Office, F. Ezra Munthe, has lamented that most tourist locations in the province are neglected due to limited budget allocations for maintenance.
Ezra cited the paltry Rp 1.165 billion (US$130,000) provided for the care of over 100 tourist destinations in the province, including the Community Forest Park in Deli Serdang, Laras Palace in Asahan and Maimoon Palace in Medan, the capital of the province.
According to Ezra, the budget is regarded as too small because much of it is used to pay the salaries of employees.
He added that besides budgetary problems, another contributing factor was lack of public awareness of the need to protect and maintain the facilities at tourist sites.
""Awareness on the part of the public is still poor. Nearly all the facilities at the tourist sites have been vandalized,"" said Ezra at his office.
He explained that the number of tourist arrivals in the province was quite significant and that better maintenance was vital. The locations most frequently visited by foreign tourists are Lake Toba in Simalungun, Brastagi in Karo, Bahorok in Langkat and Nias, notable for its marine tourism.
Data shows that around 81,051 foreign tourists visited North Sumatra in the period of January to September this year. Most of them came from ASEAN countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore, and also from the Netherlands.
""When compared to last year's figure of 73,440, there is actually an increase of about 10.36 percent in tourist arrivals this year,"" said Ezra.
Perceiving the tourism conditions in province to be lacking, a North Sumatra legislative council member, Rafriandi Nasution, surmised that officials should review the development of tourism and culture in the province.
He said that officials handling tourism matters should put three main things into consideration in tourism promotion; tradition, technology and global appeal.
He explained that local cultures must be further encouraged and exposed to the global tourism market. He cited as an example that only certain areas held festivals to promote tourism, such as Lake Toba's Horas, Mejuah-Juah, Rondang Bintang, Solu Bolon and Jamu Laut festivals.
""Other cultures from various other regencies should be given a chance,"" said Rafriandi.
Rafriandi was also of the opinion that tourism should be supported by the latest technology without losing sight of traditional values.
""This is intended to promote our culture overseas so that Indonesia is not only influenced by foreign cultures, but it can also give inspiration to the outside world,"" said Rafriandi.

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Sat, 12/18/2004 8:16 AM