TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government of the special autonomous province of Yogyakarta has set up a Tourist Information Center to offer special service to the 2017 Eid al Fitr holidaymakers.
Yogyakarta, with its rich history and culture as well as several tourist attractions, continues to intensify its efforts to promote its tourism sector.
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As one of the leading cultural centers in Java, Yogyakarta is blessed with numerous scenic tourist attractions, which are being developed and promoted to attract as many tourists as possible.
Hence, spokesman of the Yogyakarta Tourism Office Yunianto Dwi Sutono remarked on Monday that the Tourist Information Center was set up in front of the Inna Garuda Hotel to facilitate visitors in receiving information.
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The Tourist Information Center is operational during the Lebaran holiday season this year, with service hours starting at 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Western Indonesian Standard Time.
"Our goal is to provide a variety of information and special services to tourists visiting Yogyakarta, so they feel comfortable to enjoy their holidays," Sutono remarked.
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In addition to the Tourist Information Center, he said services to tourists during the Eid holidays will be offered via mobile phone short messaging service.
To offer satisfaction and comfort to tourists visiting Yogyakarta, local Tourism Office Head of Tourism Destination Development Arya Nugrahadi has encouraged tourism managers to apply reasonable tariffs during the 2017 Eid al Fitr.
Nugrahadi remarked that the parking rates and entry fees to several tourist attractions should be made reasonable, and if there is an increase, it should not be excessive.
He expressed hope that the tourism managers would not arbitrarily raise the entry fees, except for a rational reason, since they must pay attention to its impact on the interest of the tourists who would like to visit Yogyakarta.
"Application of adequate tariffs will have a positive impact on the tourism image of Yogyakarta," he remarked.
Nugrahadi noted that in addition to the entry tariffs, he also expressed hope that parking service tariffs around tourist attractions would be applied fairly.
According to Nugrahadi, the momentum offered by the Lebaran holidays this year provides an opportunity for tourism managers to deliver optimal service by not merely being profit-oriented at the expense of Yogyakartas tourism image.
He said the Yogyakarta Tourism Office has set up four tourist posts to enhance the promotion of tourism as well as functioning to serve as a vehicle for delivering tourist information during the Lebaran holidays this year.
Every district in Yogyakarta has numerous villages that can be developed into rural tourist spots, one of them being the Kembangarum Village.
A visit to the Kembangarum tourism village is considered incomplete without exploring the Arum Laris Art House, where the tourists can learn about the traditional Javanese musical instrument of gamelan.
Besides this, the village management also offers batik and painting courses to the tourists. Visitors can later take home the artwork, which they had created during the course.
The Kembangarum tourism village is also offering an environment education program to visitors as part of its efforts to make them feel at home, as they gain new experiences and everlasting memories.
Tourists visiting the Kembangarum tourism village will be given information and a demonstration on how to plow fields, plant rice saplings, and ways to manage aquaculture.
Tourists are guided by the local farmers as they gain new and memorable experiences while they join the farmers in plowing fields, planting rice saplings, and learning ways of managing the aquaculture, which are part of the tourist village management concept.
It was reported that the concept of a tourism village has inspired the development of an education model that the real world can implement while living in harmony with nature.
The concept was developed several years ago, when the governments of several districts in Yogyakarta realized that the visitors can be offered much more than the familiar attractions, such as Yogya Keraton, as well as the Borobudur and Prambanan temples.
Apart from enjoying the breathtaking views of mountains, forests, and plantations, the tourists can also have a memorable opportunity of trying their hand at plowing the fields and planting rice saplings with the local farmers and the community.
The Kembangarum tourism village, which occupies a 22-hectare plot of land, was inaugurated in 2005, as it offered ample arena for games and other attractions for visitors.
The Kembangarum tourism village is located at the slope of Mount Merapi, at an altitude of 700 meters above sea level, thus enabling tourists to enjoy the fresh and cool mountain air.
In addition, Kembangarum is rightfully known as the tourism village of education in Yogyakarta, since the visitors can not only enjoy the panoramic beauty of its surroundings but also gain an insight into the local culture and tradition.
Yogyakarta has several villages with the potential to develop tourism, and hence, they should be mapped, so that the tourists are free to choose which village they want to visit.
Popular tourism villages in Yogyakarta Province are located in the districts of Sleman, Kulonprogro, Bantul, Gunung Kidul, and the city of Yogyakarta.
ANTARA
