How to sell Indonesia in two words

How do you sell Indonesia? In the tourist business, a tagline to brand a country as a destination can make or break a campaign. Two words in tourism branding can do or undo you. Malaysia’s “Truly Asia” and India’s “Incredible India” splash in countless ads in multinational print media and television.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik touts Indonesia’s new brand line: “Wonderful Indonesia.” Does it have punch? Can it drive people to descend in droves on Indonesia?

“Wonderful Indonesia”, Minister Wacik explains, covers five aspects: wonderful nature, wonderful culture, wonderful people, wonderful food and wonderful value for money.

Indeed, Indonesia has all of that, as do other countries. But the competition would decidedly focus on one crucial aspect: Wonderful service. In service, first impressions count. That first impression comes upon arrival at an airport or hotel.

As a not-too-frequent traveler, I always ask for two things when I check in at a hotel: A map of the hotel’s location and its surroundings and picture postcards of the hotel. The Wisma G’Fika PNRI, a modest mountain inn in West Java’s Puncak highlands 86 kilometers south of Jakarta, has a sketch map of the Gunung Mas tea plantation, within walking distance.
So do the three-star Island Garden in Batam, Riau Islands province, the three-star Swarna Dwipa in Palembang, South Sumatra, the three-star Indra Puri in Bandarlampung, Lampung, and the Santika in Surabaya, East Java. They all have printed line maps centered on their hotel.

Meanwhile the three-star Quality Manado has a foldable, pocketsize color map of the city with a white bubble indicating where the hotel is located. It faces Manado Bay. The Alila Manggis, a beachside hotel boutique in East Bali at the foot of volcanic Mount Agung, has several maps of nature trails placed on its ten-gear mountain bikes that guests are free to use.

Other hotels that do not print their own maps may have city maps provided by the local government or courtesy of the Indo Multi Media Group. However, more than half of the hotels I have stayed at in Indonesia do not have maps.

The matter with postcards is more lamentable. The Quality Pekanbaru, Riau, is among the few that prints its own postcards. It has a picture postcard of its white-washed, four-story hotel in the center of a business enclave of ruko-ruko (shop houses). Blue Sky, a favorite of oil contractors in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, produces a composite of nine mini pictures of its facilities. The Amans (for Ambon Manise) in Ambon, Maluku, prints postcards of nearby Lelisa Beach.

Meanwhile the Alila Manggis prints cards with images ranging from its high-ceilinged, open-air lobby to a long-haired beauty sitting on a boulder in a fast-flowing river. She wears a batik wrap from the waist down with her golden bare back to the camera.

It is not just map and postcard availability. Little extras count too. Blue Sky in Balikpapan and Grand Mahkota in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, both four-stars, have magnifying mirrors in their bathroom.

But a final litmus test is when a traveler asks for a check-out service that should be a conventional courtesy. Travelers who mail postcards have an incurable infection to write home about their trip, such as the young backpacker in the “Incredible India” clip.

I asked the duty assistant at the front desk of a four-star, high-rise hotel in Kota Jambi, Jambi province, to post several cards, stamps already in place. She refused. My solution was to ask the hotel driver to drop the cards at the local post office after driving me to Sultan Thaha Airport. He readily agreed after I rewarded him with small change to insure prompt service.

Let’s return to the tagline “Wonderful Indonesia.” Does it have a catchy, contagious appeal to sell Indonesia? Whatever the brand line, what counts for me is wonderful service. That’s the bottom line.

The writer teaches journalism at the Dr Soetomo Press Institute (LPDS) in Jakarta.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com