Jakarta is a mega-city with tons of attractions, from martial arts to local food and culture, as well as and culture from around the massive Southeast Asian nation. But you’d never know it, since the city has not made a major effort to reach out to tourists.
The city is not really set up for tourists. Foreign business travelers complain there are no sidewalks to walk on in a city that has highways cutting right through the downtown area. There are almost no sidewalks in the vast city, and visitors cannot stroll along and check out shops, cafes or restaurants, such as in other major mega-cities worldwide. Visitors feel isolated from the locals — who are among the warmest people you’ll find in Asia — and you have to drive or take a taxi everywhere. You cannot take a metro or subway such as the ones in New York, Bangkok or London. That makes it hard to feel part of the city, and cuts off travelers from locals.
Billionaire businessman and 2017 candidate for Jakarta governor Sandiaga Uno says that has to change.
“I think we need to be more tourism friendly. First of all we need the infrastrutcure to be up to speed with the way the world is fastly changing,” he told Borderless News Online (starting at 1 minute 55 seconds into the video).
“Jakarta has so much of the entire Indonesian culture, and they are all centered here in Jakarta. I think we need to really make sure we can showcase this. The big cities like New York and London have their own tourism programs and I think Jakarta is now just starting, but we have so much that we have not really developed. Jakarta itself has not only culture from around Indonesia, but there are local cultures like their martial arts…has not been really showcased,” he said.
“So I’ll put great emphasis in terms of showcasing these very good tourism attractions….I think a lot of Indonesia’s culture is supported not only by the genuinely nice people of Jakartans and Indonesians but actually of deep, deep historic values we have as a country. So that needs to be showcased, more promotion going out,” he said.
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