Marsetyo, Chairman of the Marine Tourism Acceleration Development Team, remarked on board the ship, Thursday, that Star Clipper was the first tall ship to moor at Tanjung Priok Port.
"Regular cruise ships have often arrived here, but it is the first time that a tall ship has arrived," Marsetyo said.
The ship brought as many as 130 foreign tourists on a marine trip from West to East Indonesia. It entered East Belitung first, then departed to Kepulauan Seribu, Jakarta, Madura, Labuhan Bajo to Wikelo, and East Nusa Tenggara.
The shipping company owns a fleet of vessels specializing in tall ships, including three ships named Royal Clipper, Star Clipper and Star Flyers.
This year Star Clipper will travel to Indonesia for as many as 20 travel packages, including an average of seven days of shipping with Bali as its home port, Marsetyo revealed.
"The maximum capacity of the ship is 170 passengers and 72 sailors, of whom one third are from Indonesia," he pointed out.
Star Clipper company previously operated its ship for several years in Thailand to explore the marine tourism destinations in ASEAN, but this year it decided to move to Indonesia as a trial sailing.
"If this year the tall ship runs successfully, then in 2018, it will increase the number of its visits. It did not rule out the possibility of bringing other ships such as the Royal Clipper, which is larger," he stressed.
Meanwhile, Aji Sularso, member of Maritime Tourism Acceleration Team, explained that factors such as customs, immigration, quarantine, port clearance procedures and port permits are always a matter of concern and consideration.
"The cost of ground-handling, both official and unofficial, is too high and more expensive here, when compared with the neighboring countries," he noted.
Sularso added that international aviation access, with the ease of moving passengers from a plane to ship, is available only in Bali. Also, fiscal incentives for freight logistics for ships are not yet available in the country.
"Not to mention that sailing into the port is relatively difficult, as it is shallow, such as at the Benoa port. There is also the lack of a comprehensive sea map at some tourist sites that poses a challenge," he observed.
The Government of Indonesia through the Ministry of Tourism has made concrete efforts to overcome problems by means of intensive coordination and cooperation of other ministries, such as the Ministry of Law and Human Rights for immigration issues, Ministry of Transport for seaport issues, Ministry of Finance for customs matters, and the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs for general regulation and policy issues.
At the same time, the Tourism Ministry is intensively conducting tourism promotions in international arenas and holding interactions and talks with cruise ship operators, as well as direct consultation with them.
The Maritime Tourism Acceleration Team that was established by Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya and the appointment of Indrojono Soesilo as the team leader are strategic steps to increase the number of foreign tourists and achieve the target of 20 million foreign tourists by 2019.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
