Festival aims to attract more Malaysian tourists to Indonesia

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Romin hits the gong to mark the opening of the ‘Wonderful Indonesia’ festival.

Romin hits the gong to mark the opening of the ‘Wonderful Indonesia’ festival.

KALIMANTAN: It was an exciting weekend at Sajingin Besar in Aruk, Sambas Province here which hosted the two-day ‘Wonderful Indonesia’ festival.

Visitors took part in many activities such as the Riam trekking, fun bike trail, flying fox challenge, cultural dance performances and ‘Dangdut’ stage shows during the festival – the fourth after the ones held previously across Sambas Province.

According to Indonesia’s Tourism Ministry deputy director for South East Asia region Eddy Susilo, the Wonderful Indonesia festival is among key programmes run by the ministry to attract Malaysian tourists to the republic.

“The events in Sambas – or more precisely, Aruk – aims to draw visitors from Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei to Kalimantan.

“We hosted about 3,300 tourists during the previous three events, and we are expecting more this time – possibly more than 5,000 Malaysian tourists,” he told The Borneo Post.

Eddy pointed that the ministry was looking into tourism to become its prime sector to raise the economy of local communities, and with the industry serving as the fourth largest contributor to foreign exchange and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), its outlook should improve over the next few years.

Meanwhile, Sambas Bupati (Regent) Atbah Romin Suhaili assured Malaysians planning to cross the border to Kalimantan that they should not worry about doing so via land.

“Previously, many were worried about the presence of ‘pungli’ – individuals who illegally collect money from travellers to ensure their (travellers’) safety throughout their journey. Our president Joko Widodo had demanded for a definite stop to such activity,” he said.

Atbah also assured Malaysians, especially Sarawakians, that various plans were underway towards turning Aruk into a popular shopping destination.

To reach Aruk, travellers from Sarawak must pass through the border checkpoint near Kampung Biawak in Lundu, which is about a two-hour drive from Kuching.

Currently, Serikin and Tebedu are the famous cross-border markets that tourists to Sarawak would go to.

Indonesian Consulate of Information, Social and Culture in Kuching, Marisa Febriana Wardani was also present at the opening of the festival in Aruk on Saturday.