PALEMBANG BEAUTIFIES TOURIST ATTRACTIONS TO WELCOME ASIAN GAMES 2018 by Fardah

Jakarta, Nov 29 (Antara)- Palembang City, the capital of South Sumatra Province, is busy beautifying its tourist attractions.

         The city is gearing up for the 18th Asian Games, a regional sporting event for Asian nations, to be co-hosted by Palembang and Jakarta in 2018.

         Thousands of athletes from 54 countries are expected to participate in the games.

         The South Sumatra provincial administration in general, and the Palembang municipality government in particular, are determined to use the event to promote its tourism attractions in order to attract as many tourists as possible.

         For that purpose, they have been busy improving and renovating several tourist attractions in the city, and developing infrastructure and facilities to support the tourism industry. Among tourist objects being renovated are Kuto Besak Fortress, Ampera Bridge and Kemaro Island.

         An investor has expressed interest in investing in the tourism industry in Palembang.

         The businessman intends to invest Rp70 billion particularly to beautify the Kemaro Isle tourist site, one of the icons of Palembang, Isnaini Madani, head of the Palembang Tourism Office, said. He did not reveal the identity of the investor.

         Kemaro Isle is a small delta, nearly six kilometers from Ampera Bridge, in the middle of the Musi River.

         A Chinese temple was built on the isle in honor of a legendary love story between a Chinese prince, Tan Bun Ann, and a princess of Palembang, Siti Fatimah.

         Currently, Kemaro Isle has 10 bungalows, a pier, a suspension bridge, and several other public facilities.

         The Palembang administration always welcomes the participation of private businessmen in developing the city's tourism industry.

         The Kemaro Isle tourist attraction will be part of a tourism package that includes other attractions along the Musi River, which is Indonesia's longest river, stretching over 750 km on Sumatra Island.

         The Palembang municipality administration has set a target of drawing one million tourists in 2017, and 2.5 million in 2018 coinciding with the Asian Games. Some 2 million tourists visited South Sumatra Province this year, and most of them visited Palembang, too.

         The city has planned to hold various international sports and touristic events prior to the Asian Games.    
    The Ampera Bridge has become the most famous icon of Palembang, which is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia and in the past was the capital of the powerful Sriwijaya Kingdom between 670 and 1375.

         Palembang, the capital of South Sumatra Province, however, is currently mulling over a greater icon than just the Ampera Bridge, which was constructed in April 1962 and stretches 1,177 meters in length and 22 meters in width.

         The administration of Palembang is set to develop the Musi River tourism on the similar lines as Thailand's Chao Phraya River, or even transforming it into "the Venice of Indonesia." Musi River is expected to become the first tourist attraction of its kind in Indonesia.
    Furthermore, Palembang is a multi-ethnic city where Malays, Javanese and those of Chinese and Arab descent have been living harmoniously and peacefully for hundreds of years.

         It has the potential to develop religious, culinary, shopping and historical tourism attractions.

         Not far from the Ampera bridge, there is the little-known Al-Munawar kampong, an old Arab quarter which has a vibrant Islamic environment and a distinctive culture.

         Located in Ulu 13, Al-Munawar kampong is now being developed into a religious tourism site, particularly to be promoted as part of the TSE tour, and also during the 18th Asian Games to be held in the city in 2018.

         Accommodating some 75 families comprising 250 inhabitants, most of the kampong's houses are over a century old, and some are up to 350 years old.

         The Arab kampong was built some 400 years ago by Syed Abdurrahman bin Muhammad Al-Munawar, a Yemeni migrant who had married Princess Masayu Bariyah, a Sultan's daughter.

         The kampong has eight Palembang traditional wooden houses, and European style houses located along the Muri River.

         Lately, the promotion of tourism in Palembang city has been intensified with the cooperation of hotel and travel agents.

         Besides, college students are also urged to help promote tourist attractions in the capital and other regions in South Sumatra Province, according to Irena Camelyn Sinaga, the Director of State-run Palembang Tourism Polytechnic.

         As students of tourism colleges, they should become envoys of tourism, Sinaga, concurrently head of the South Sumatra tourism office, said.

         In addition to promotion, they should also help improve the management of tourist attractons, as they already have the knowledge and sciences, she remarked.

         The polytechnic accepted 200 students in the first batch. Besides knowledge and science on tourism and businesses, they also learn about governance, security and politics in the polytechnic. ***1***
(f001/INE/B003)
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(T.F001/A/F. Assegaf/Bustanuddin) 29-11-2016