Indonesia & Bali Tourism New

A vast 900,000 hectares of water are newly protected in the Indonesian archipelago of Raja Ampat.

This month, Indonesia’s Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Mr. Freddy Numberi formalized traditional community efforts to safeguard marine life when he announced the creation of a network of seven marine protected areas (MPAs) encompassing the region’s diverse coral reefs, mangrove forests, and other coastal ecosystems.

The ground-breaking declaration is built on years of collaboration among local communities and non-governmental organizations, including Conservation International (CI), to better protect Raja Ampat and the broader Bird’s Head Seascape.

The announcement brings the Indonesian government significantly closer to its goal of protecting 10 million hectares of coastal marine ecosystems by 2010, and allows CI to fully meet its own objective to help establish 20 MPAs by that same year.

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Amid all the destruction and loss of life caused by last year’s Java earthquake, one often overlooked casualty was Yogyakarta’s handicraft industry.

But a year after the May 27 quake, which devastated Yogyakarta and parts of Central Java, the industry is beginning to bounce back.

“After the quake, the wood used to make primitive-style statues was gone. And if there was any available, it was too expensive,” said Bandiyah, 45, who crafts Pucung primitive-style statues in Pendowoharjo village in Sewon district, Bantul regency, Yogyakarta.

Following the quake, many handicraft makers were unable to restart production because there was no timber on the market, having all been channeled into reconstruction work.

Bandiyah said in the weeks and months after the quake, a cubic meter of teakwood branches with a diameter of about 10 cm cost Rp 800,000, a 100 percent increase from the previous price of Rp 400,000.

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SEMARANG: The Semarang International Garment and Textile Accessories Exhibition 2007 is underway at the Central Java Recreation and Development Promotion Center in Semarang from May 23-26, featuring various sophisticated textile machines and the latest textile products from 14 countries.

The expo, with 117 participating companies representing 14 countries including China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Switzerland, Taiwan and the U.S., is expected to generate US$20 million in business deals and transactions.

The same event held in West Java once recorded deals worth $50 million.

According to Central Java Industry and Trade Office head Abdul Sulhadi, the exhibition is part of the province’s endeavor to facilitate restructuring of the local textile industry.

Central Java is in need of updated textile machinery to enhance its competitiveness against foreign-made fabrics. Of the 74,943 textile manufacturers operating in 21 areas, including the major production centers of Solo, Semarang, Pekalongan, Tegal, Sragen, Jepara and Kudus, 70 percent still use 15- to 25-year-old equipment.

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The central government will support a bid to include Nias Island, in North Sumatra, as a world heritage site.

Representatives from various organizations, academics, researchers, the government and members of the general public attended a meeting Friday in Medan, North Sumatra, to discuss the bid.

The meeting was organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in cooperation with the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and North Sumatra University.

Head of the World Heritage Center’s working committee, Risman Musa, said Nias had a good chance of being listed as a world heritage site, due to its unique cultural heritage.

The island boasts traditional houses which date back hundreds of years, megalithic sites and artifacts, traditional villages, a variety of local languages, special handicrafts and traditional architecture.

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Profile

Introduction
Based on local tale, the word Candirejo was came from the word Candighra. Then this Candighra was moved to Candirga, and this word moved again to Candirja. And while the time walked through, this word also has its changing. Until now, the word stays for Candirejo. Now, this word stays for the village located in Magelang regency, one of regencies in Central Java province, Indonesia territory.

Candirejo is built by two words, candi and rejo. Both are Javanese. In english, candi can be meant by temple, but if we refer to Javanese, it meant rock/stone. And the word rejo can be meant by fertile. In fact, Candirejo village is located in area with many rocks around. It is understandable because the region where Candirejo village is located, is part of Menoreh mountain ground. Menoreh mountain is used to be a volcano. The existence of the word candi (stone/rock) is also strengthen by names of some regions in this village. There are regions named of Watu Kendhil, Watu Ambeng, Watu Dandang, etc., where word watu is have a meaning of stone. So, if both meaning are constucted together, the word Candirejo can have a meaning of one area with many rocks within, but it is fertile.

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Massive waves failed to discourage tourists in Yogyakarta and Bali from flocking to popular beaches Saturday.

The long weekend has contributed to an increased number of domestic and foreign tourists visiting Bandung, Bali and Yogyakarta.

In Bali, thousands of tourists visited popular Kuta beach trying to get a glance at the giant waves, forcing Water Tourism Safety Agency workers to repeatedly request people to remain a safe distance from the water, Antara news agency reported.

The giant waves caused widespread panic among tourists relaxing on the island’s beaches Friday, and destroyed small houses on the Kedongan and Jimbaran beaches.

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The forests of Kalimantan may be overexploited, but ecotourism is massively underdeveloped according to research by Lorna Dowson-Collins.

Malaysia now gets 10 per cent of its tourism revenue from folk in floppy hats and non-designer baggy shorts — Indonesia around five per cent. Sabah alone attracts 1.7 million visitors a year.

Those who reckon slapping on mosquito repellant is a great way to pass time are generally members of the so-called “Silent Generation”‘, couples whose kids have long flown the nest.

In the West,professionals from this 55-plus age group are usually well-heeled, want to stay active and have no interest in hedonism and shopping malls.

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One day in 1993, Wirda Hanim, a long-time resident of the West Sumatra provincial capital Padang, attended a traditional celebration at her village, Sumani, in Tanah Datar regency.

During the festivity, she observed some women and men wearing clay batik shawls, known locally as batik tanah liek. The shawls were already very old and worn, with patches everywhere. Local people, however, still wore the shawls with pride as a piece of traditional Minangkabau clothing.

Taking a closer look at the batik, Wirda realized the people handled the shawls with extreme care so they would not tear. Out of curiosity she asked some people about the batik and was astonished to learn that clay batik had not been made for about 70 years.

“I was worried (that clay batik would disappear forever), which moved me to produce batik tanah liek, just like the pieces they were wearing,” Wirda told The Jakarta Post recently.

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With about 17,508 islands, most of them still unnamed, Indonesia is among the most exotic neighbours that India has. Tito Dos Santos Baptista, Consul General Of The Republic Of Indonesia, Mumbai, speaks with Express TravelWorld about its India strategies.

What strategies are you employing to promote Indonesia here?

Our visa-on-arrival policy that started in August 2005 has made an instantaneous impact on arrivals. The Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Mumbai is now planning various programmes to promote Indonesia in India like:

• Buyer-seller meets amongst the Indonesian and Indian travel agents
• Invitations to travel and tour operators from Indonesia to participate in outbound travel fairs held in India
• Road shows to be arranged through our ministry of culture & tourism and various Indonesian tourism boards in major cities of India in the form of cultural events, etc
• FAM tours to Indonesia for tour operators, MICE organisers, etc.

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A memorandum of cooperation has been signed between Greece and Indonesia with Ms. Fani Petralia, the Greek Minister of Tourism Development and Mr. Sapta Nirwaydar substitute Minister of Culture and Tourism of Indonesia to give hands opening the way to a closer tourism approach of Greece with Indonesia.

“I am delighted for the cooperation between the two countries. We have many common with Indonesia. We both have many islands and both the people of the two countries are characterized for their hospitality. Greece is a popular destination and it has become a preferred destination. We respect our visitors and this is something that expresses Indonesia too. I am sure that we will have a very good and positive cooperation in tourism,” Ms Petralia stated in the Indonesian media.

“Our country is known worldwide for its cultural heritage. We must show our respect in our culture and heritage. If we lose our historic memory then there will be no future for us,” replied Ms. Petralia to a question of an Indonesian reporter regarding the importance of cultural heritage.

Michael Verikios - Greece and Indonesia strengthen tourism ties