Nicknamed Little Switzerland, Stone City Minimal Foreign Tourist Visits

Travelin me- The number of foreign tourists visiting Batu City, East Java, is relatively minimal. This is different from its neighboring area, Malang City, which is still often found by foreign tourists walking in the middle of the city.

Data from the Batu City Tourism Office shows that in 2022 there will be around 7.4 million tourist visits in Batu City. However, from this number, there are only about 1,000 foreign tourists.

One of the tourist attractions in Batu City, namely the Selecta Recreational Park in Tulungrejo Village, Bumiaji District, also feels the lack of foreign tourists visiting.

Director of Selecta Recreational Park, Pramono said, the visit of foreign tourists in Batu City in general is not much. This condition is also still a question among the managers of tourist attractions.

Not only that, his party also has not dared to target the number of foreign tourist visits.

"We dare not target, there are not too many foreign tourists in general in Batu, this is also a question why the visit is small, they seem to prefer Bromo, Jogja and Bali," said Pramono, Wednesday (19/7/2023).

For information, Batu City has long been nicknamed De Kleine Switzerland or Little Switzerland because it has cold air with beautiful landscapes.

The Selecta Recreation Park was built in 1928 by Reyter De Wild as a resting place for the Dutch East Indies Government.

"This year there are (foreign tourists), but not so many. After all, there is to Selecta, usually from the Netherlands because there are historical ties between his grandmother and grandfather in the past, maybe they have been here because the history of Selecta is inseparable from the Dutch East Indies," he explained.

Efforts to attract foreign tourist visits

In general, the number of tourist visits at Selecta Recreational Park is expected to increase during 2023 compared to 2022.

The number of tourist visits during the six-month period in early 2023 is around 400,000 people, while the number of tourist visits during one year in 2022 is around 640,000 people.

"It is expected that this year, by the end of 2023 it can reach 750,000 tourists. 70 percent of our visitors are from Surabaya and its surroundings," he said.

Furthermore, his party will carry out several strategies in an effort to increase foreign tourist visits.

Among them are promoting tourist attractions and working with travel agents that accommodate foreign tourists.

"At the beginning of 2000 there were still many (foreign tourists) here, because there used to be travel agents from Jakarta regularly to Selecta, they brought groups of foreign tourists. We will massively re-cooperate with travel agents who handle (handle) foreign tourists, "he explained.

Source: Kompas