Indonesia 2018 | TOURISM | B2B
ABDULBAR M. MANSOER
Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC)
BUDI TIRTAWISATA
Group CEO
Panorama Group
What has been at the root of your recent success?
ABDULBAR M. MANSOER ITDC has done a fair amount at its residential complex Nusa Dua, particularly in the last two years, and for which it received an award from the Global Sustainable Tourism Agency. This relates to the last four years of our operations from every sustainable angle, including security and how our master plan has been laid out. It also reaffirms that Nusa Dua is the best complex in Indonesia. In March 2018, we will go to Chiang Mai for the Asian Sustainable Tourism Awards. It will be a proud moment for us to represent Indonesia. Our second main achievement has been winning our first platinum award from Tri Hita Karana (THK) in 2016. This is not a performance-based award, but relates to preserving the spirit of Bali in terms of protecting our local culture. It recognizes that ITDC has acted at the highest level in terms of sustaining the spiritual standards of the island.
BUDI TIRTAWISATA Synergy can be reached when we have one objective, and our objective is clear: we have a common vision and mission for our companies that is understood by all the leaders who work with us. This is why we are able to move in one direction. Having said that, it is also because the government has set a clear goal about where the country should go. It opens the way, and for the first time, the government is paying a lot of attention to tourism. By leading the way, the government helps the private sector. Fortunately, Panorama has been in the industry for 45 years, and we are one of the most mature and best-prepared players in the industry here. This makes things easier for us at the moment.
What kind of partnerships or projects are you working on at the moment?
AM We want to take the great parts of Nusa Dua and apply them to this new development, as well as make improvements where needed. The great thing is that we have 40 years of experience to draw on. There are 200 people at Nusa Dua, some of whom have been working for us for 35 years. They understand the process, having seen Nusa Dua go from being a coconut farm to a high-end resort. Along with the experience and people, we also have the government's support. The difference between Mandalika and Nusa Dua is that Mandalika has been awarded special economic zone status. We get the benefits of tax relief, and the government comes in to help us build the infrastructure, such as the fishing port and roads. The other difference between the two developments is that when Nusa Dua was being developed in the 1970s, 90% of Indonesia's revenue was from oil and gas, and the tourism sector was small. Today, tourism has strong government support. The Mandalika project started in 2015 and by 2017 we already had six hotels committed to its development—this took 15 years with Nusa Dua. Five hotels have already started construction, and the project will be delivered in 2019.
BT One of our visions is that we want to be a regional player, and maybe even a global one some day. In Indonesia, we are one of the top three in the industry, but are still striving to scale up at the regional and global level. We were introduced to a global player, or at least a company that wants to become one, JTB, the largest travel management company in Japan and Asia. We met with them and held long discussions about our mutual visions. After about 18 months, we had an agreement for a partnership. With this collaboration, they are taking 40% of our subsidiary, and we will keep the majority. They will provide us with their network in the region and around the world because JTB has been buying companies in other regions. Of course, they want the Indonesian market, and Panorama is the local player leading the market here with about 70 outlets in Indonesia. Therefore, we will provide them with the network in the Indonesian market, and definitely help each other.
It's a Matter of When