Jakarta, May - The much awaited reopening of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia`s Ambon route in June is expected to have a significant effect on tourism in Maluku.
Starting June 1 this year, there will be regular flights from Jakarta to Ambon, Maluku province`s most prominent island with hilly terrain, covered in lush vegetation, has many idyllic spots and two crescent shaped bays, Baguala and Ambon bays.
"The planned reopening of Garuda Indonesia`s Jakarta-Ambon route with a stopover in Makassar, South Sulawesi in the first week of June 2010 will have a strategic impact on the development of Maluku`s tourism," local culture and tourism office spokesperson Florence Sahusilawane said in Ambon on Monday.
Sahusilawane expressed optimism that with the Garuda Indonesia`s new route to the scenic eastern Indonesian city of Ambon, more foreign tourist in the run up to the international marine event of Sail Banda 2010 would come to Maluku.
Hendra Sumarno, the general manager of Garuda Indonesia`s Makassar branch, said in Ambon over the weekend that the company was preparing the personnel needed to handle the reopened route.
In addition, an office of the national flag carrier would be opened next to the Mutiara Hotel on Jalan Raya Pattimura in Ambon to give the best possible service to Garuda customers in Maluku.
Hendra Sumarno said Garuda flights to Ambon were scheduled to depart from Jakarta`s Soekarno-Hatta airport at 10 a.m. Western Indonesia Time (WIB) with a stopover at Makassar`s Hassanudin airport before flying to Pattimura airport in Ambon, and return to Jakarta at 5 pm East Indonesia Time (WIT).
"We are to schedule Ambon-Jakarta flights in such a way that they will arrive in Jakarta a few hours before Garuda flights to Amsterdam take off because many foreign passengers from Ambon usually want to have connecting flights to the Netherlands," Sumarno said.
He said the Jakarta-Makassar-Ambon route would be served with aircraft having a capacity of 14 to 16 business-class seats and 120 economy-class seats.
Other airline companies flying to Ambon at present are Lion Air, Batavia Air, and Sriwijaya Air from Ambon-Makassar-Jakarta, Ambon-Surabaya-Jakarta, and Ambon-Jakarta.
Garuda`s Jakarta-Ambon flight service would be reopened in conjunction with the addition of 24 new aircraft to its fleet in 2010, namely 23 new generation Boeing 737-800s and one Airbus A330-200.
Meanwhile, Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono said recently that Garuda would fly to Ambon again starting June 1, 2010.
"Garuda`s management has obtained a recommendation from the transportation ministry and thus it will fly to Ambon again on the first day of June this year," Bambang Susantono said.
In her comment to Bambang`s statement, Sahusilawane said there would also be a wider opportunity for foreign tourists, especially from Europe, to visit Maluku.
Garuda flight to Ambon, according to Sahusilawane, would again convince the International community that security and stability in Maluku were getting more conducive for foreign tourists to spend their holiday in Maluku.
According to some foreign tourists, the people of Maluku are very friendly and easy to communicate with.
Besides, they like so much the city of Ambon with beautiful hills and valley surrounded by the clear blue calm sea and long beautiful beaches such as Namalatu, Natsepa, Liang, Hukurila, and many others.
The sea is the main attraction for the tourists. The beautiful long beaches, the crystal clear sea is for them to see clearly the fish swimming lazily under their traditional boat or the coral reef beneath.
Besides the sea and beaches, the tourists can also visit the abandon fort of the Portuguese, or enjoy the natural hot water from the mountain, and also the big eel attraction at the village of Wai where the eel master can call them to get out from their hiding place and dance around the master to get a fresh egg or fish.
For foods, the tourists can taste "papeda", the traditional sago
porridge dishes with the delicious fish soup, or they can also try the colo-colo, the traditional chili sauce with its unique sour hot spice taste.
Undoubtedly, Maluku would one day be well-known in the world for its beautiful beaches and sea more than the Caribbean blue, if the government well manage the area as tourist attraction site.
"The most important thing is that the Garuda flight to Ambon will contribute to the success of the upcoming international marine event of Sail Banda 2010," Sahusilawane said.
Sail Banda 2010 was officially launched in the eastern Indonesian scenic city of Ambon for implementation from June 12 - August 17 this year.
At a ceremony to launch Sail Banda in Ambon on Friday night, April 16, 2010, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad called on all parties to support the event and to make it a success.
Fadel said the international marine event was named Sail Banda because the Banda islands bear particular historic meaning with countless relics lying scattered across the islands, serving as reminders of the days when Banda was once a major producer of a valuable commodity over which ancient world powers fought protracted wars.(Otniel Tamindael)
Source: http://www.antaranews.com
Starting June 1 this year, there will be regular flights from Jakarta to Ambon, Maluku province`s most prominent island with hilly terrain, covered in lush vegetation, has many idyllic spots and two crescent shaped bays, Baguala and Ambon bays.
"The planned reopening of Garuda Indonesia`s Jakarta-Ambon route with a stopover in Makassar, South Sulawesi in the first week of June 2010 will have a strategic impact on the development of Maluku`s tourism," local culture and tourism office spokesperson Florence Sahusilawane said in Ambon on Monday.
Sahusilawane expressed optimism that with the Garuda Indonesia`s new route to the scenic eastern Indonesian city of Ambon, more foreign tourist in the run up to the international marine event of Sail Banda 2010 would come to Maluku.
Hendra Sumarno, the general manager of Garuda Indonesia`s Makassar branch, said in Ambon over the weekend that the company was preparing the personnel needed to handle the reopened route.
In addition, an office of the national flag carrier would be opened next to the Mutiara Hotel on Jalan Raya Pattimura in Ambon to give the best possible service to Garuda customers in Maluku.
Hendra Sumarno said Garuda flights to Ambon were scheduled to depart from Jakarta`s Soekarno-Hatta airport at 10 a.m. Western Indonesia Time (WIB) with a stopover at Makassar`s Hassanudin airport before flying to Pattimura airport in Ambon, and return to Jakarta at 5 pm East Indonesia Time (WIT).
"We are to schedule Ambon-Jakarta flights in such a way that they will arrive in Jakarta a few hours before Garuda flights to Amsterdam take off because many foreign passengers from Ambon usually want to have connecting flights to the Netherlands," Sumarno said.
He said the Jakarta-Makassar-Ambon route would be served with aircraft having a capacity of 14 to 16 business-class seats and 120 economy-class seats.
Other airline companies flying to Ambon at present are Lion Air, Batavia Air, and Sriwijaya Air from Ambon-Makassar-Jakarta, Ambon-Surabaya-Jakarta, and Ambon-Jakarta.
Garuda`s Jakarta-Ambon flight service would be reopened in conjunction with the addition of 24 new aircraft to its fleet in 2010, namely 23 new generation Boeing 737-800s and one Airbus A330-200.
Meanwhile, Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono said recently that Garuda would fly to Ambon again starting June 1, 2010.
"Garuda`s management has obtained a recommendation from the transportation ministry and thus it will fly to Ambon again on the first day of June this year," Bambang Susantono said.
In her comment to Bambang`s statement, Sahusilawane said there would also be a wider opportunity for foreign tourists, especially from Europe, to visit Maluku.
Garuda flight to Ambon, according to Sahusilawane, would again convince the International community that security and stability in Maluku were getting more conducive for foreign tourists to spend their holiday in Maluku.
According to some foreign tourists, the people of Maluku are very friendly and easy to communicate with.
Besides, they like so much the city of Ambon with beautiful hills and valley surrounded by the clear blue calm sea and long beautiful beaches such as Namalatu, Natsepa, Liang, Hukurila, and many others.
The sea is the main attraction for the tourists. The beautiful long beaches, the crystal clear sea is for them to see clearly the fish swimming lazily under their traditional boat or the coral reef beneath.
Besides the sea and beaches, the tourists can also visit the abandon fort of the Portuguese, or enjoy the natural hot water from the mountain, and also the big eel attraction at the village of Wai where the eel master can call them to get out from their hiding place and dance around the master to get a fresh egg or fish.
For foods, the tourists can taste "papeda", the traditional sago
porridge dishes with the delicious fish soup, or they can also try the colo-colo, the traditional chili sauce with its unique sour hot spice taste.
Undoubtedly, Maluku would one day be well-known in the world for its beautiful beaches and sea more than the Caribbean blue, if the government well manage the area as tourist attraction site.
"The most important thing is that the Garuda flight to Ambon will contribute to the success of the upcoming international marine event of Sail Banda 2010," Sahusilawane said.
Sail Banda 2010 was officially launched in the eastern Indonesian scenic city of Ambon for implementation from June 12 - August 17 this year.
At a ceremony to launch Sail Banda in Ambon on Friday night, April 16, 2010, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad called on all parties to support the event and to make it a success.
Fadel said the international marine event was named Sail Banda because the Banda islands bear particular historic meaning with countless relics lying scattered across the islands, serving as reminders of the days when Banda was once a major producer of a valuable commodity over which ancient world powers fought protracted wars.(Otniel Tamindael)
Source: http://www.antaranews.com
