Thegovernment plans to separate industrial and tourism ports to bring moreinternational cruise liners to Indonesia due to growing demands.
“We have toprepare our ports because they are crowded with cargo ships. Internationalcruise tourists want to see the beauty of the port,” Firmansyah, the Cultureand Tourism Ministry’s director general for tourism development, told TheJakarta Post at his office on Friday.
He saidthat the ministry was collaborating with port operator PT Pelindo I and II aswell as local administrations to improve ports including Tanah Ampo and Benoain Bali, Tanjung Mas in Central Java, Tanjung Priok in Jakarta, Belawan inNorth Sumatra and Palopo in South Sulawesi.
“We have toadmit that we are lacking ground handling facilities. We are working hard sothat more international cruise ships can visit Indonesia,” he said, adding thatthe cruise industry had a lot of promise in Indonesia.
As ofSeptember 2011, there were 178 cruise ship calls with 113,766 passengers comingto Indonesia, while in 2010, that figure stood at 198 for the calls thatbrought 94,228 passengers.
In 2012, hesaid that as many as 215 calls have been scheduled to visit Indonesian ports,bringing 137,279 passengers.
He addedthat 2,000-passenger cruise ships had anchored twice in Tanah Ampo this year,including the Australian Sun Princess, which anchored at Tanah Ampo on July 17.
SunPrincess was the first ship to make a stopover after several others canceledtheir visits due to unfinished docking facilities. With 2,100 passengers and880 crew on board, the ship made its final stopover in Tanah Ampo beforereturning to Fremantle, Australia.
Kicking offits journey in Fremantle, the ship went to Padang, Langkawi and Singaporebefore heading to Vietnam and Cambodia.
“Tanah Ampostill needs a wharf extension to be able to accommodate cruise liners, and weare working on that,” Firmansyah said.
The currentpier is only 154 meters long, while the international standard is at least 300meters.
Constructionis unfinished, despite being was initiated years ago, for lack of around Rp 200billion (US$23.6 million) budgeted by the central government.
Althoughdocking facilities are not yet finished, cruise ships can anchor some 400meters away from the wharf and small boats bring passengers and crew to afloating jetty to reach the terminal.
However,Firmansyah was upbeat that the dock would be finished soon because Pelindo andlocal administrations have felt the benefits. “Indonesia gets at least $1million from cruise liner business a year,” he said.
Indonesiaalso plans to make Bali a hub cruise port that will connect several potentialports for foreign tourists in 2014, he said.
From Bali,cruise liners will travel to Semarang, Jakarta, Palopo, Flores and back toBali.
Theministry is still choosing between Benoa and Tanah Ampo as the hub. However, hesaid that if Benoa were chosen, it would take much more work and time. (nfo)
