Role of Bali for Jogja Tourism:
More than Just a One-Day Tour to Jogja

As the main gateway of Indonesia, Bali is always a buffer. The 10 leading destinations in this archipelago, including the Special Region of Yogyakarta (SRY) alias Jogja, sees the paradise island of Bali as a magnet for other destinations. Government and tourism practitioners of Jogja confess that from the ‘Island of Thousand Temples’ tourists can be disseminated to everywhere, east and west. It means Bali holds a central position in the business constellation among other destinations in supplying tourists to all regions across Indonesia including Jogja. “I think all destinations throughout Indonesia expect this of Bali because their products are widely introduced by colleagues of travel agents on the Paradise Island. To sum up, Bali remains the magnet for all destinations including Jogja,” uttered the Head of SRY Government Tourism Office, Tazbir to Image-Bali Travel News at his office in the area of Malioboro 56 Jogja.

He admitted that the role of Bali is immensely important. In addition, Bali has a very specific characteristic and is not so disturbed by the heterogeneity. Nevertheless, Tazbir described the concept of Jogja tourism that is somewhat different from that of other destination including Bali. “All ethnic groups and types of people throughout Indonesia exist in Jogja. It is this diversity engendering Jogja as a distinctive destination. On that account, it’s impossible for us to develop the tourism in Jogja the way that it has been developed in Bali. Another distinct difference lies in the heritage, architecture and art-culture belonging to Jogja such as Keraton (royal palace) making Jogja unique and attractive,” he explained.
Tazbir added that Bali has a kingdom, but it’s really different from that in Jogja. In Jogja some arts and culture belonging to the citizens exists but there are also those belonging to the kingdom (sultanate) that can not be viewed outside of the royal palace. For instance, the Bedoyo Dance, Anglir Mendung, Singkawang Mendut can only be viewed in the palace, not in public places. This makes Jogja different in terms of art and cultural aspect as there is a value that should be maintained. Watching particular dance only in the palace can confer very high selling point for the palace in Jogja tourism. He assures that if tourists or guests are invited to have dinner or to watch a dance in the royal palace, it must be something extraordinary as the dance presented and the food served can not be found at other places outside of the palace. “It’s the strength and at the same time becomes the potential and uniqueness of Jogja that could not be encountered at other destinations including Bali,” he commented.
The Head of Indonesia Hotel & Restaurant Association (IHRA) of Jogja Chapter, H Istidjab M Danunagoro confirmed that Bali plays such a great role in supporting the destinations beyond Bali. “Moreover Jogja is the second destination after Bali,” said Istidjab.
As long as the tourists enter Jogja via Bali, there is a perception if traveling to Jogja that it is not necessary to stay overnight. “One day is enough, moreover if the morning flight is available and they can return in the afternoon,” he observed while demanding that in years to come the length of stay of tourists from the east, including Bali could be extended to 2-3 nights. “Hopefully, at least they could stay for one or two nights in Jogja. If they travel from the west, particularly Jakarta, they assuredly stay for two nights and then resume their journey to Surabaya, Bali and Nusa Tenggara,” he revealed while explaining that since 1995 when Bali tourism was booming, there has been a pattern of tourists traveling from the east to Jogja that do not stay overnight.
This 50 year-old man, born in Lhoksemawe and bearing the title Kanjeng Ratu Hemas Tumenggung (KHRT) admitted that such a package is not valid for all market segments. “It’s only for Japanese and Korean market. I do not know if it’s the ‘play’ of our colleagues from the agents in Bali saying they do not need to stay one-night in Jogja. We expect that our colleagues in Bali could promote see Jogja in one day. It’s our expectation,” he demanded.
MA Desky, Chairman of the ASITA of Special Region of Yogyakarta, also revealed a similar opinion on the role of contribution of Bali in strengthening the tourism in Jogja. However, he did not agree that there are stakeholders, chiefly travel agents in Bali that only sell one-day tours to Jogja. “Tourists have a choice, namely free & easy and the rest is optional tour. The tourists have purchased the package through a wholesaler in their home country,” said MA Desky while explaining that travel agents in Bali could do nothing because all arrangements have been prepared in their own country. Moreover there is a package named free & easy that is really easy consisting of hotel-transfer-airport. “One-day tour is only earmarked for Japanese and Korean market, not for other markets like European (Dutch, French and Spanish) and Asian that mostly prefers to choose one-night stay.
Desky who also serves as the Head of Post-Earthquake Jogja Tourism Recovery revealed that in the future the prospect of Jogja tourism is very promising as some operators have inaugurated direct flights from and to Jogja such as Air Asia (AA) flying daily from Kuala Lumpur-Jogja and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) increasing its flight frequency to 4 times instead of 3 times a week. He added that for AA each flight conveys 110 passengers while MAS conveys 100 passengers. “It means within a week there are 700 visitors that fly directly to Jogja by AA. The price of return ticket for Jogja-Kuala Lumpur is only IDR 1,300,000. Meanwhile, Air Asia makes the greatest breakthrough,” he revealed while stating that according to his belief, the Visit Indonesia Year (VIY) 2008 program, rolled out by the Department of Tourism and Culture, targeting 7 million visitors is impossible to reach. “As a matter of fact, the program is merely intended to revive and encourage the spirit, not to reach the target,” he added. (image/013)