INDONESIA INTENSIFIES PILGRIMAGE TOURISM PROMOTION by Fardah

Jakarta, Oct 17, 2015 (Antara) - Indonesia has a number of pilgrimage and cultural heritage sites, such as ancient trails and sacred places, which date as far back as the seventh century, apart from even some megalithic sites in the country. 
    The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in 2010 estimated that some 330 million tourists, or 30 percent of the total global tourists, visited religious sites.

         A study showed an increase of up to 165 percent in faith-based tourism over the past five years.

         Having a motto of "Unity in Diversity,"  Indonesia has a lot of characteristics to develop pilgrimage tourist destinations of Islam, Catholicism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and 245 local faiths.   

    "We can say that Indonesia has a very complete package of religion-based tourist destinations which are internationally recognized," Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said when kicking off activities to promote  pilgrimage tourism which has so far not been optimally developed in Indonesia.

         "Currently, pilgrimage tourism needs to be developed more seriously, including the management of the destinations, the packaging of tourism product, and the promotion as well as marketing of special interest tourism segment," Minister Yahya said at a workshop and kick-off meeting on pilgrimage tourism destination development on Oct. 16.

         The government has set a target of attracting 20 million foreign tourists, and 275 million domestic tourists by 2019. The country hopes to earn up to Rp240 trillion in foreign exchange and create 13 million jobs in the tourism industry.    
    The Tourism Minister said there has been a shift in tourism paradigm from "sun, sand and sea" to "serenity, sustainability and spirituality."
    Indonesia has Borobudur Temple which has been recognized as the world's cultural heritage, and Maria Sendangsono Cave which won the Aga Khan Award, he noted.

         The image of the huge mountain temple of Borobudur has been popular worldwide, particularly after UNESCO included the world's largest Buddhist temple in its World Heritage list in 1991.

         The temple was built during the reign of a king belonging to the Syailendra dynasty between AD 750 and 842 and is located about 42 kilometers from the city of Yogyakarta, in the middle of the Java Island.

         UNESCO and the Indonesian government had undertaken complete renovation of the monument as part of a massive project from 1975 to 1983.

         Borobudur is surrounded by beautiful rice fields, and four active volcanoes: Merapi, Sindoro, Merbabu and Sumbing, from which the building stones of the temple were produced.

         Recently, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Rizal Ramli said his vision is to see the Buddhist Borobudur temple in Central Java become a sacred place for all Buddhists in the world to visit.

         "We want to make Borobudur a Mecca for Buddhists. It is like all Muslims feeling obliged to visit Mecca before they die,"  Rizal said.

         The Borobudur temple was "much more beautiful than Angkor Wat in Cambodia," he remarked.

         Therefore, he added, he wanted to promote Borobudur to turn it into a religious destination for all Buddhists in the world.

         "If Christians want to visit Jerusalem, Muslims want to perform hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, then Buddhists should visit Borobudur at least once in life," he said.

         Borobudur, therefore, would serve more as a place for religious activities by Buddhists, he said.

         In addition to the Buddhist temple, Indonesia also plans to further promote "Wali Songo" (Nine Islamic Saints) shrines as a pilgrimage route.

         The Wali Songo shrines are located in eight districts and cities in the provinces of East, Central and West Java.

         According to the 2014 data from some sources, a total of 12.2 million domestic tourists visited the Wali Songo sites, with each tourist on an average spending Rp300 thousand per visit, or a total of Rp3.6 trillion a year.

         Some 3,000 foreign tourists visited the sites, with the total expenditure coming to US$450 thousand a year, or US$150 a day.

         The tourism ministry hopes that the Wali Songo pilgrimage tourism will be able to attract 18 million domestic tourists, or 15 percent of the total target of domestic tourists, by 2019.

         Some 18 million tourists are expected to spend Rp7.2 trillion in total per year, or Rp400 thousand per tourist per visit.

         Some 10,000 foreign tourists are expected to visit Wali Songo sites and spend a total of US$1.5 million per year, or US$150 per day per person.

         One of the most known Wali Songo sites is the 15th-century Ampel Mosque (Mesjid Ampel), which was built by Sunan Ampel, one of the Nine Saints, and stands within the vibrant Arab quarter in Surabaya, East Java.

         Born in 1401 in Champa, Cambodia, Sunan Ampel's real name was Mohammad Ali Rahmatullah and was a descendant of Ibrahim Asmarakandi, a prince of Champa, who lived and stayed in the town of Tuban, in East Java.

         The Sunan Ampel Grand Mosque is one of the oldest mosques in Indonesia, and was built using a combination of Javanese and Arabic architecture and strong teak wood.

         During the fasting month of Ramadhan, the Sunan Ampel mosque is the most favored site for people from across the country to come and offer prayers. They also pay homage to Sunan Ampel's tomb.

         Some 12 thousand people visited the Sunan Ampel Mosque and tomb every day during the recent Ramadhan, according to Zeid Muhammad, the manager of the Sunan Ampel Grand Mosque Foundation. ***1***
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(T.F001/A/BESSR/Bustanuddin) 17-10-2015 20:31:31