Wonderful Jatigede Festival

Wonderful Jatigede Festival

'Wonderful Jatigede Festival' Aims to Attract More Tourists to Sumedang

Dirt bike club Barudak Trail Adventure Sumedang, or Batras, and arts communities in Sumedang, West Java, will hold the Wonderful Jatigede Festival on April 15-16 to promote tourism at the Jatigede Reservoir.

The Jatigede Reservoir in the eastern part of Sumedang is the second largest dam in Indonesia after Jatiluhur in Purwakarta, also in West Java.

Aside from providing water and electricity to most of West Java, the Jatigede Reservoir — which was opened in August 2015 —  will also be developed into a tourist attraction.

The deputy minister for marketing at the Tourism Ministry, Esthy Reko Astuti, said the Wonderful Jatigede Festival will introduce ecotourism to the Sumedang public, including a dirt bike championship.

“We want to develop tourism and also the creative economy scene in Sumedang. Tourism Minister Arief Yahya will attend the event next week,” Esthy said.

Around seven thousand local and international visitors are expected at the festival to watch and take part in a creative economy exhibition, Sundanese art performances, a photography competition, a dirt bike contest and a tree planting ceremony.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said the government will develop tourism in and around the Jatigede Reservoir through a special local tourism authority.

“We will build a golf course, dirt bike tracks, hotels, restaurants, fishing ponds, a water park and a museum around the Jatigede Reservoir. Surian Island on the south side of the dam will have a hotel and a grilled fish restaurant,” he added.

According to statistics provided by the Tourism Ministry, 2,388 international visitors visited Sumedang in 2014, bringing in Rp 37 billion ($57,000) to the local economy. The following year, the area attracted 2,685 international visitors, bringing in Rp 44 billion ($68,000).

Local tourists still make up the majority of visitors to Sumedang with 141,261 people spending more than Rp 141 billion ($22,000) in 2014, and 169,514 people spending more than Rp 169 billion ($27,000) in 2015.

Source:  jakartaglobe & http://westjavatourismboard.info/wonderful-jatigede-festival/