Hendri Giallorossi

The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry requires professional guides in Indonesia to follow the existing ethical codes in an attempt to improve the country’s image as a world-class destination.

I Gde Pitana, head of the ministry’s tourism resources department, said tour guides played a crucial role in the tourist industry.

“They are the spearheads in the industry, directly dealing with tourists. Their work and professionalism will certainly mirror our tourism,” Pitana said, while opening the 12th national congress of the Indonesian Tourist Guide Association (HPI) in Denpasar.

Pitana urged all those working as guides to register with official agencies and acquire the necessary professional certification.

Issuing the certificates was another problem. “It should be managed by authorized agencies,” said Pitana, who is also a professor of tourism studies at Udayana University.

He further said the majority of registered guides already demonstrated professionalism.

“But there are still many guides who do not have official licenses. They may act against the ethical codes and could damage the image of Indonesia,” Pitana said.

Recommendation was also made for guides to register as members of HPI. “It is a forum in which guides can share each other’s experiences, exchange information and learn to find solutions,” Pitana said.

Referring to Law No. 10/2009 on tourism, Pitana said that tourism workers, including tour guides, must be certified.

The certificates must be obtained by passing the examinations and evaluations offered by competent and authorized agencies.

The ministry has targeted subsidizing the certification process for 50,000 tourism workers between 2012 and 2014.

“So far, around 47,500 workers have undertaken the certification process,” Pitana said, adding that 50,000 other workers had undergone certification using their own money.

Erman Maulana, chairman of HPI, said that the association had signed the global ethical code for guides in 2012.

The ethical codes on tour guiding stress the importance of good attitudes, skills and knowledge.

“Indonesian guides are weak in attitude. This depends on personal characteristics. It will be a long process to change one’s attitude,” Erman said.

HPI would also issue standard operational procedures for guides, based on international standards.

HPI has 12,000 members across Indonesia, including 6,500 members in Bali. “But only 10 percent of the members have already obtained their certification,” said Erman.

Sumber : Bali Daily

The Indonesian annual travel mart, the Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME) or 'Pasar Wisata Indonesia' will this year take place in Padang, the capital city of West Sumatra after being held for two years in Bandar Lampung, a travmedia.com report said. It is scheduled to be held between October 18  to 21  this year at the Grand Inna Muara Hotel & Convention Centre. Entering its 19th year of conduct, TIME is organized to promote Indonesia as a tourist destination in the international market and at the same time raise the country's image as a global travel destination. TIME 2013 is being organized by the Indonesian Tourism Council along with the Provincial Government of West Sumatra and with the support of the Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy of Indonesia and the entire tourism components in Indonesia. Meity Robot, Chairwoman, Steering Committee of TIME 2013, said that in its 18-year history, TIME had previously been held in Java and Eastern Indonesia (Makassar and Lombok). "We are happy to announce that TIME this year will take place in Padang this year. The shifting of TIME to West Sumatra is aimed at promoting West Sumatra to the international market and speeding up the development and improvement of infrastructure, tourism facilities and tourism attractions in the region, so that the destination could establish itself as a globally. It will attract more tourist arrivals to the island and speed up the improvement of infrastructure and encourage more investors to the region to develop new hotels as well as tourism attractions," said Robot. "Various destinations in Sumatra are equipped with a good variety of quality hotels as well as cultural, natural and man-made attractions. Hosting TIME would allow international buyers to take a closer look at the products on offer and aid local tourism stakeholders in selling their products overseas," she added. There are six regional gateways in Sumatra, namely Banda Aceh, Medan, Pekanbaru, Padang, Palembang and Batam. "While direct regional services are still limited to Malaysia and Singapore, destinations in Sumatra can use these regional hubs to attract travelers from beyond these countries," Robot concluded. As every year, top industry policy-makers, sellers and buyers of Indonesian tourism products and services are expected to participate in TIME. It accommodates the interests of local industry players seeking to introduce their tourism products and services to the international markets. The event will feature the Indonesia's tourist attractions, including exciting destinations and special interests as well as top tourist facilities in the country. The annual mart is run on a yearly rotating basis to promote as much provinces to the world as possible in the future.

Sumber : By TBM (TravelBizMonitor) Staff | Mumbai

Pictured below is the 600-metre-long Hillier Lake that can be found in a densely wooded area of Middle Island in Western Australia – one of 100 or so small islands that make up the Archipelago of the Recherche. This vivid pink lake is something of a mystery and the only one of its kind in the world.

The colour is permanent and never changes, even when water is removed and placed in a separate container. Scientists have proven that the lake’s colour is not due to the presence of algae, unlike the other salt lakes Down Under, but they still don’t seem to be able to explain why it’s pink! Another possibility is that the colour comes from red bacteria in the salt crusts.