TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of Jakarta’s Tourism and Culture Department, Arie Budiman, claims that celebrations and events have increased the number of tourists in the capital city.

Since the "Jakarta Car Free Night" was held the number of domestic and foreign tourists have continued to rise, said Arie on Friday. "Jakarta Car Free Night" was the first public celebration held by Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, nicknamed Jokowi, after his inauguration. He wished to hold a celebration that involved all levels of society.

Arie said the department recorded that as many as 1,502,986 million foreign tourists visited Jakarta from January to August this year, a ten percent increase compared to the same period of time in 2012.

Arie could not deny that the "Jokowi effect" was one of the reasons for the boost in the tourism sector. Jokowi’s role in marketing Jakarta as a top tourist destination was also seen in the "Enjoy Jakarta" program held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last June 14; and the Jakarta International Performing Art (Jakipa) 2013 event held at the National Monument from September 28 to 29. The governor intends to market the capital city on an international scale up until 2014.

He said the public celebrations were aimed at promoting Jakarta as a cultural city in order to brand it the way Thailand and Singapore have branded their capitals.

SYAILENDRA