Indonesia invites Saudi travelers to explore tourism destinations beyond Bali

Indonesia invites Saudi travelers to explore tourism destinations beyond Bali
Indonesian Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno, left, with Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb during the World Travel Market in London on Nov. 8, 2022. (Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy)
Short Url
Updated 26 May 2023

Indonesia invites Saudi travelers to explore tourism destinations beyond Bali

Indonesia invites Saudi travelers to explore tourism destinations beyond Bali
  • Kingdom is one of Indonesia’s main tourist markets
  • Target of 60k Saudi visitors in 2023, says tourism minister

JAKARTA: Indonesia wants to attract Saudi travelers with its natural and cultural wonders beyond the holiday island of Bali, the Asian nation’s tourism minister has told Arab News, as the country’s post-pandemic strategy is focused on quality and sustainability.

Indonesia is targeting to welcome 8.5 million foreign visitors in 2023 as it is rebounding from the COVID-19 lull that brought its key forex-generating hospitality sector to a standstill.

While the figure is still about a half of the arrivals recorded in 2019 — right before the coronavirus outbreak — the country’s tourism is oriented toward long-term visits and travelers who contribute more to the local economy.

“We are focusing on quality and sustainable post-pandemic tourism, where we expect tourists to stay longer and have much bigger spending,” Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said in an interview with Arab News on Thursday.

The Tourism Ministry’s data shows these goals match the travel patterns of visitors from Saudi Arabia.

“We’re seeing travelers from Middle East regions focusing more on personalized, customized, localized (travel),” Uno said, adding that they also look for “hidden gems in new destinations.”

Most tourists, also from Arab countries, opt for the world-famous Bali.

In 2019, out of the 16.1 million who came to Indonesia, 40 percent had gone to the island which that year accounted also for over a third of Indonesia’s foreign exchange obtained from tourism.

But the country has much more to offer both in terms of culture as well as nature and wildlife. Some of the attractions across the tropical archipelago have been promoted as alternatives to Bali and to make tourism revenues less dependent on the resort island.

These “super priority tourist destinations” include Borobudur — the world’s largest Buddhist temple, dating from the 8th and 9th centuries and located in central Java — and Labuan Bajo, a port in the island of Flores, which is the gateway to the small islands that are home to the famous Komodo dragons.

There is also Mandalika on the island of Lombok, east of Bali, and Likupang village on the easternmost tip of the Sulawesi island, which are famous for sandy beaches, reefs, diving and surfing spots.

“We believe that these beautiful beaches and bays, panoramic views, green mountains, clear rivers and sports tourism would be preferred by Middle Eastern (travelers),” Uno said.

“We really would like to offer this to tourists from the Middle East, in particular Saudi Arabia.”

The Kingdom is one of the 20 main markets of Indonesia’s tourism sector, which hopes to attract at least 60,000 Saudi visitors this year.

The target is less than half of the 2019 figure, when 157,000 Saudis visited the country and, according to the minister, is very low compared with the potential.

“We’re aligning promotions, we think that there’s a captive market for us,” he said.

To capture the Saudi market, Indonesia is engaging influencers and participating in international tourism trade shows such as the Arabian Travel Market and the Riyadh Travel Fair.

It is also ramping up connectivity and the minister added that talks were underway with Saudi flag carrier Saudia to increase the number of direct flights between the two countries.

Meanwhile, he was hopeful to see new visitors soon as Saudi Arabia’s long summer holiday season will begin next month.

“The summertime in Saudi and the Middle East would be the best time to visit,” Uno said. “See you soon in wonderful Indonesia.”


Iraqi killed fighting for Russia’s Wagner in Ukraine, says group founder

Iraqi killed fighting for Russia’s Wagner in Ukraine, says group founder
Updated 14 sec ago

Iraqi killed fighting for Russia’s Wagner in Ukraine, says group founder

Iraqi killed fighting for Russia’s Wagner in Ukraine, says group founder
LUHANSK, Ukraine: An Iraqi citizen fighting with Russia’s Wagner mercenary force was killed in Ukraine in early April, the first confirmed case of a Middle East native dying in the conflict, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin told Reuters on Wednesday.
Abbas Abuthar Witwit died on April 7, a day after arriving at a Wagner hospital in the Russian-controlled, eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk, the RIA FAN news site earlier reported.
Much of the fighting for Bakhmut was done by convict fighters, recruited by Wagner from prisons on the promise of a pardon if they survived six months at the front in Ukraine.
In response to a Reuters request for comment, Prigozhin confirmed he had recruited Witwit from prison, saying he was not the first native of an Arab country to have joined from jail.
Witwit, he said, had fought well and “died heroically.”
RIA FAN said Witwit had been wounded in Bakhmut, the city in Donetsk province that Prigozhin said Wagner had taken in mid-May, after a battle that had raged since last year.
Prigozhin previously said the whole conflict had cost 20,000 of his men’s lives.
In video published by RIA FAN, a man identified as Witwit’s father is shown receiving awards posthumously given to his son, and that he had supported his decision to enlist in Wagner as a “volunteer.”
“Abbas always pursued his freedom and wanted to be a man who defends his freedom and himself, and he told me he found his freedom in Russia,” he is shown saying.
According to court papers seen by Reuters, Witwit was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on drug charges in July 2021 by a court in the Russian city of Kazan. The documents said Witwit was a first year student at a technical university.

UK-based Islamic charities donate $24.4bn a year to good causes

UK-based Islamic charities donate $24.4bn a year to good causes
Updated 31 May 2023

UK-based Islamic charities donate $24.4bn a year to good causes

UK-based Islamic charities donate $24.4bn a year to good causes
  • Contributions came from more than 165,000 groups or individuals, says report
  • Number of Islamic charities has soared in last 20 years says Muslim Charities Forum

LONDON: Islamic charitable groups in the UK donated £20.2 billion ($24.4 billion) to local and international causes last year, according to an official report.
More than 165,000 groups or individuals contributed to the total, according to the study by the National Council for Voluntary Organizations, reported Kuwait News Agency on Wednesday.
According to a separate study by the Muslim Charities Forum, 600 organizations had now met the requirements and regulations set by the UK government for charitable work, up from around 25 at the turn of the century.
The initial Muslim-oriented charitable organizations were established in the early 1980s and mostly contributed to humanitarian causes in Africa and Eastern Europe, the study said.
MCF’s CEO Fadi Itani said his group’s study had shown that 150 Islamic charities geared toward international causes contributed £500 million (around $625 million) annually.
Forty-seven organizations have the capacity to gather £1 million to £20 million annually, said Itani. Approximately 30 more raised about £500,000 ($620,000) a year each, while 450 others contributed more than £150 million a year collectively.
The growing benevolence of British Muslims is backed up by a Walnut Social Research 2021 poll that showed they were the most charitable religious group in the country.
Walnut found that Muslim individuals donated around £370 annually compared to £165 for donors from other faiths.
 


Wildfire on Canada’s Atlantic coast forces evacuation of 16,000 people

Wildfire on Canada’s Atlantic coast forces evacuation of 16,000 people
Updated 31 May 2023

Wildfire on Canada’s Atlantic coast forces evacuation of 16,000 people

Wildfire on Canada’s Atlantic coast forces evacuation of 16,000 people
  • “It’s extensive. It’s heartbreaking,” said Premier Tim Houston, who announced a ban on woodland activity after visiting the disaster area to get a sense of the damage
  • The forest protection manager in the province's wildfire management group said it is safe to say that all of these fires were “very likely human-caused”

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia: Nova Scotia’s leader begged people to stay out of the woods and avoid any activity that could start more fires after a wildfire on Canada’s Atlantic coast damaged about 200 houses and other structures and prompted the evacuation of 16,000 people.
“It’s extensive. It’s heartbreaking,” said Premier Tim Houston, who announced a ban on woodland activity after visiting the disaster area to get a sense of the damage.
Many residents were eager to return Tuesday to see whether homes and pets had survived, while fire officials expressed concern that dry, windy conditions could cause a “reburn” in the evacuated subdivisions. The extended forecast is calling for hotter weather on Wednesday and no rain until Friday at the earliest.
Houston said the ban extends to all travel and activity in all wooded areas. That includes all forestry, mining, hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, off-road vehicle driving and all commercial activity on government lands, he said.
“Don’t be burning right now. No burning in Nova Scotia. Conservation officers reported six illegal burns last night. This is absolutely ridiculous with what’s happeniung in this province — three out-of-control fires, eight fires yesterday, 12 on Sunday. Do Not Burn!” Houston said Tuesday. “We have to do what we can to make sure we don’t have new fires popping up.”
Scott Tingley, the forest protection manager in the province’s wildfire management group, said it is safe to say that all of these fires were “very likely human-caused.”
“Much of it probably is preventable. Accidents do happen and so that’s why we certainly appreciate the premier’s message,” Tingley said.
Firefighters have been working to extinguish hotspots in the fire that started in the Halifax area on Sunday, Halifax Deputy Fire Chief David Meldrum said. He said Tuesday that it was too early to give an exact count of homes damaged or destroyed, but the municipal government put the toll at about 200 buildings.
Dan Cavanaugh was among two dozen people waiting Tuesday in a Halifax-area parking lot to learn if their suburban homes had been consumed.
“We’re like everyone else in this lot,” said the 48-year-old insurance adjuster. “We’re not sure if we have a house to go back to.”
Police officers wrote down names of residents and were calling people to be escorted to see what had become of their properties.
Sarah Lyon of the Nova Scotia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said an eight-member team was going into the evacuation zone to retrieve animals left behind.
In all, about 16,000 people were ordered to leave their homes northwest of Halifax, most of which are within a 30-minute drive of the port city’s downtown. The area under mandatory evacuation orders covers about 100 square kilometers (38 miles).
Sonya Higgins, who runs a cat rescue operation in Halifax, said she and more than 40 others waited in a nearby supermarket parking lot to be led into the evacuation area. They hoped to retrieve seven cats from two homes. She said the pet owners contacting her have been “frantic” to find their animals and get them to safety.


Pakistan ex-PM Khan in court as rights watchdog issues warning

Pakistan ex-PM Khan in court as rights watchdog issues warning
Updated 31 May 2023

Pakistan ex-PM Khan in court as rights watchdog issues warning

Pakistan ex-PM Khan in court as rights watchdog issues warning
  • The Islamabad High Court and a specialist corruption court granted Khan bail on Wednesday in the same graft case
  • Thousands have been rounded up since the Supreme Court declared that detention illegal and allowed him to walk free

ISLAMABAD: Embattled Pakistan opposition leader Imran Khan returned to court on Wednesday, as the nation’s human rights watchdog warned all sides are to blame in a rapidly deteriorating democratic crisis.
Khan’s brief arrest earlier this month sparked days of deadly unrest before Islamabad orchestrated a crackdown on his party, including mass arrests and a pledge to try some protesters in army courts.
The Islamabad High Court and a specialist corruption court granted Khan bail on Wednesday in the same graft case which prompted his arrest on May 9, his lawyers said.
Thousands, including grassroots supporters and key Khan aides, have been rounded up since the Supreme Court declared that detention illegal and allowed him to walk free.
Islamabad says the arrests are justified because it was targeted by anti-state terrorism, while Khan claims his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is being quashed ahead of elections due by October.
But Hina Jilani, the head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), issued a stark warning to “all political stakeholders.”
“Unless they desist from any further measures that could imperil the country’s fragile democracy, they may find themselves unable to steer the country safely through the multiple crises it is facing.”
Since he was ousted from office in a no-confidence vote last spring, Khan has waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against Pakistan’s powerful military establishment, which analysts say was behind his rise and fall from power.
His arrest was widely seen as payback ordered by top brass after he repeated incendiary allegations that they plotted an assassination attempt against him.
The HRCP said “civilian supremacy has emerged as the greatest casualty” from the deepening political crisis, which comes as Pakistan suffers from a flatlining economy and worsening security situation.
“The government’s inability — or unwillingness — to safeguard civilian supremacy” and PTI’s “incessant humiliation of law... has led to making military interference in politics inevitable,” Jilani said.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch criticized Islamabad for agreeing to try 33 civilians in military courts for allegedly attacking army installations during the unrest.
“Pakistan’s military courts, which use secret procedures that deny due process rights, should not be used to prosecute civilians,” said associate Asia director Patricia Gossman.
As the clampdown on PTI continues, several senior figures have defected, leaving former cricket star Khan increasingly isolated.
He says arrests are being used to force resignations. Nonetheless he remains far and away Pakistan’s most popular politician.

Related


Indonesia’s creative sector sets sights on pilgrims in Saudi Arabia

Indonesia’s creative sector sets sights on pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
Updated 31 May 2023

Indonesia’s creative sector sets sights on pilgrims in Saudi Arabia

Indonesia’s creative sector sets sights on pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
  • Southeast Asian nation aims to become regional creative economy hub by 2045
  • Minister looks to set up Saudi base for Indonesian creative products

JAKARTA: Indonesia is setting its sights on pilgrims in Saudi Arabia for its creative economy products, a minister told Arab News, as Jakarta sought to make the sector its main source of exports.

Indonesia’s creative economy, led by fashion, crafts, and culinary products, contributed around 7.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2022, when its export value for the first time exceeded $25 billion.

The country wants to become a regional creative and digital economy hub under its Vision 2045 plan and make them its key export products. The sector has been growing steadily over the years and has been important in helping Indonesia bounce back after the coronavirus pandemic.

Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said: “The driving force behind economic revival and job creation has been the creative economy.”

As millions of Muslims from around the world visit Saudi Arabia for Umrah and Hajj every year, Uno pointed out that pilgrims were a potential market for Indonesian creative economy products.

During a meeting with Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, in November, Uno discussed Indonesia’s opportunity to “enter the ecosystem and provide many beneficial programs to improve the quality and experience for pilgrims.”

The minister noted that Indonesian pilgrims themselves could help promote their goods and small- and medium-sized enterprises.

“The pilgrims could also be good promotional ambassadors when they wear Indonesian products,” he said, adding that there was substantial “growth opportunity for the two countries” as they could bank on a high purchasing power and strong consumer demand in the Middle East in general.

The world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia will send around 229,000 Hajj pilgrims to the Kingdom this year, while another 3 million are expected to travel for Umrah.

“This is a good way that we promote Indonesian SME products that could set up base in Saudi Arabia to create economic benefits,” Uno said.

“All the important goods and services including handicrafts, textiles, furniture, food and beverages, and creative products have potential to attract customers.”