Borobudur Temple Tourism Park in Indonesia prepares a special route to the temple listed in the UNESCO's World Heritage sites for foreign tourists.
General Manager of Borobudur Temple Tourism Park I Gusti Putu Ngurah Sedana said this special route is provided to give the best service for foreign tourists.
"Foreign tourists do not want to have a disturbing obstacle when entering the temple," he said as quoted by Semarangpos.com. "They want to safely and comfortably getting to the temple, as well as when going down."
With the best service, Mr Sedana said the hope is for foreign tourists to share their good experiences of enjoying the temple when they return to their home countries, so that more tourists would visit the temple.
Borobudur, dating from the 8th and 9th centuries, is located in the Regency of Magelang in Central Java. It was built in three tiers: a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a monumental stupa. In 1991, Borobudur was added to UNESCO's World Heritage list.
Panoramic view of the world's biggest Buddhist temple, Borobudur. Source: Wikimedia Commons/CC0
In February, Tourism Minister Arif Yahya mentioned while speaking at the 'Borobudur Legend' seminar that the Indonesian government is seriously developing Borobudur.
The seminar is triggered by the lagging of the development of Borobudur tourism, although the cultural heritage has all that is needed to become the main choice of tourists.
"In fact, the number of foreign tourists in Borobudur is only 250 thousand every year," said Menpar Arif Yahya, as quoted by VOAIndonesia. "That number is less than ten percent of foreign tourists who come to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, which reaches 2.6 million per year."
The construction of tourist villages around the Borobudur Temple area and also the construction of a new airport at the outskirts of the city of Yogyakarta are some of the things that the government hopes can give Borobudur tourism a boost.
Tourism Minister Arif Yahya promised that five years after the new airport's operation, there will be 2 million foreign tourists to visit Borobudur. That number will inflate the regional economy, where every foreign tourist spends an average of USD1,000.
The General Manager of Borobudur Temple Tourism Park I Gusti Putu Ngurah Sedana said that this route has been worked out little by little so that it could be tried out immediately considering that in July to October Borobudur is usually crowded with foreign tourists.
"From the main gate [tourists will] go directly to the temple and [they] can enjoy the temple and get out with an electric car and go back to the parking lot," he said.
