Tourism in Indonesia

Tourism in Indonesia is an important component of the Indonesian economy and an important source of foreign exchange revenues. With a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands,^[1] the second longest shoreline in the world,^[2] 300 different ethnic groups and 250 distinct languages,^[3] and tropical climate throughout the year, nature and culture are two major components of Indonesian tourism.

Tourism in Indonesia is currently overseen by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. International tourist campaigns have been focusing largely on tropical destination with white sand beaches and blue sky imageries. Beach resorts and hotels were developed in some Indonesia islands, with Bali island as the primary destination. Cultural tourism is also an important part of Indonesia tourism industry. Toraja, Prambanan and Borobudur temples, Yogyakarta and Minangkabau are popular destinations for cultural tourism, apart from many Hindu festivities in Bali. About 5 million foreign tourists have visited Indonesia annually since 2000.^[4]

However, tourism development had sometimes clashed with local people, that has created criticism over Indonesia's tourism industry. Most of the disputes were related over land possession, local traditions (adat) and the impact of tourism development to the local people. In another area, tourism industry in Indonesia faces major threats. Since 2002, several warnings have been issued by some countries over terrorist threats and ethnic/religious conflicts in some areas, which significantly reduces the number of foreign visitors.

Nature tourism

The beach at Gili Meno with Lombok in the distant background

Indonesia has well-preserved natural ecosystem such as rainforests that stretch over about 57% of Indonesia's land (225 million acres) and about 2% of them are mangrove.^[10][11] One reason why the natural ecosystem in Indonesia is still well-preserved is because only 6,000 islands out of 17,000 are permanently inhabited.^[12] Forests on Sumatra and Java are examples of popular tourists destinations. Moreover, Indonesia has one of longest coastlines in the world, measuring 54,716 km,^[13] with a number of beaches and island resorts, such as those in southern Bali, Lombok, Bintan and Nias Island.^[14] However, most of the well-preserved beaches are those in more isolated and less developed areas such as Karimunjawa, the Togian Islands, and the Banda Islands.

[edit] Dive sites

With more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia presents ample diving opportunities. Bunaken at the northern tip of Sulawesi, claims to have seven times more genera of coral than Hawaii, and has more than 70% of all the known fish species of the Indo-Western Pacific.^[15] Moreover, there are over 3,500 species living in Indonesian waters, including sharks, dolphins, manta rays, turtles, morays, cuttlefish, octopus and scorpionfish, compared to 1,500 on the Great Barrier Reef and 600 in the Red Sea.^[16] Tulamben Bay in Bali boasts the wreck of a 120 meter (400 foot) US Army commissioned transport vessel, the USAT Liberty Glo.^[17] Beside Bunaken and Bali, Lombok, with three Gilis (Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan), Thousand Islands and Bangka are some of the most popular diving sites in Indonesia.

[edit] Surf breaks

Surfing is also a popular water activities in Indonesia and the sites are recognised as world class sites.^[18] The well-known spots are mostly located on the southern, Indian Ocean side of Indonesia, for example, large oceanic surf breaks on southern Java. However, the north coast does not receive the same surf from the Java Sea. Surf breaks can be found all the way along Sumatra, down to Nusa Tenggara, including Aceh, Bali, Banten, Java, Lombok, Mentawai Islands, and Sumbawa. On Bali, there are about 33 surf spots, from West Bali to East Bali. Sumatra is the second island with the most number of surf spots, with 18 spots. The common time for surfing is around May to September with the trade winds blowing from east to south-east. From October to April, winds tend to come from the west to north-west, so east coast breaks get the offshore winds.

Two well-known surf breaks in Indonesia are the G-Land in the Bay of Grajagan, East Java and Lagundri Bay at the southern end of Nias island. G-Land was first identified in 1972 when a surfer saw the break from the window of a plane. Since 6 to 8 foot (Hawaiian scale) waves were discovered by surfers at Lagundri Bay in 1975 the island has become famous for surfing worldwide.