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CHAPTER III
EXPERIENCE AND OBSTACLES
A. Association of the Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA)
1. Profile
Launched in Jakarta on January 7th
1971, ASITA (Association of the
Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies) is the only legally acknowledge non-
profit alliance of Indonesian travel entrepreneurship. ASITA launched in
Operating under the RI Law number 9/1990 regarding tourism, ASITA
provides a headship to the communal efforts of Indonesian travel agencies.
ASITA is an association for the tourism entrepreneurs, especially tours and
travel agencies in Indonesia that have some the categories of its
membership.
2. Visions and Missions
The visions of ASITA as follows:
a. To serve and protect the interest of its members and external
parties.
b. To preserve the harmonic relationship between its member and
external parties; both tourism and non tourism related parties.
c. To improves the images of Indonesian tourism industry by
ensuring customer satisfaction and security while also protecting
and guaranteeing the needs of the customers and other parties
involved within the Association, without sacrificing the needs of
its members
The mission of ASITA as follows:
a. To set up structures and to boost the development, value, and
quality of Indonesian travel and tourism for the benefit of its
member.
b. To provide a cohesive structure in order to accommodate the
aspirations and raise efforts of its members to achieve collective
goals.
c. To encourage culture and environment aspects in tourism industry
by optimally adopting the local genius concepts, and developing
the friendly environment based on cultural tourism industry
3. Membership
Anything to do with membership such as application, acceptance,
appointment, and dismissal are regulated in the Rules of The Association
(ART). There are five types of ASITA membership: (1) Full members
which consist of Indonesian travel companies (including their branches) that
have been legalized by the government and issued with ASITA’s registered
membership number; (2) Associate members which consist of tourism
related companies, tourism educational institutions, and government tourism
institutions; (3) Allied Associate Members (Non Residential Members)
which comprise of hotel tour operators and other tourism companies
overseas; (4) Honorary Members which consist of individuals or institutions
that are meritorious for ASITA; (5) Life Members which consist of persons
who have shown great dedication to ASITA.
4. ASITA Board Management
ASITA has a different board management according to its level: (1) in
national level called Dewan Pengurus Pusat (DPP); (2) in region level
called Dewan Pengurus Daerah (DPD) which can be formed in province
region if the member candidates already reach 20 which consist of travel
agencies; (3) and for branches office of ASITA called Dewan Pengurus
Cabang (DPC) which can w be formed in city from DPD recommendation
and approved by DPP if the candidate members reach 10. Below is the
board management of ASITA according to its level:
a. Dewan Pengurus Pusat (DPP) ASITA
GENERAL
CHIEF
General
Secretary
Treasurer
Treasurer
Deputy
Vice Chief Head of
Sectors
Institution and
organization
division
Marketing and
Tours Division
Research and
Development
Division
Law and
Advocate
Division
Commerce
Division
Committees for
some country
ADVISORY
GENERAL
CHIEF DEPUTY
General
Secretary
Deputy
b. Dewan Pengurus Daerah (DPD):
ADVISORY DEPETA
CHAIRMAN
Vice
Chairman I
Vice
Chairman II
Vice
Chairman III
Secretary Treasurer Commerce
Division
Organization
and Human
Resources Division
Law and
Institutional
Division
Ticketing
Division
Domestic
and
Inbound
Division
Organization
Division
Human
Resources
Development
Outbound
Division
Funds and
Efforts
Division
Public
Relation
Regional
Coordinators
c. Dewan Pengurus Cabang (DPC):
ADVISORY
Oversight
Committee
Manners
Daily
Management
Board
Chief
Secretary
Chief
Chief Deputy
Secretary
Ticketing
and
Commerce
Division
Domestic
Division
Inbound
Division
Outbound
Division
Organization
Division
Promotion and
Public Relation
Division
Education
and Human
Resources
Division
Fund and
Trade
Division
Haji and
Umrah
Division
Member
Treasurer
B. Description of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart as Tourism Events
Bengawan Solo Travel Mart is a non-profit event that was previously
named Borobudur Travel Mart. Borobudur Travel Mart was held once a
year as a province tourism event and it was held simultaneously with
Borobudur festival in Solo, then this tourism event was taken over by
tourism stakeholder in Solo. Bengawan Solo Travel Mart is held under
ASITA (Association of the Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies)
Surakarta. I did job training at ASITA as volunteer in Bengawan Solo
Travel Mart, from 26th
January until 26th
February.
Bengawan Solo Travel Mart as a tourism event has purposes to: (1)
Become a media presentation and promotion of a product, tour package, and
tourism potencies in Surakarta and from other regions; (2) Improve the
cooperation between the Government and tourism stakeholder; (3) Increase
people appreciation of the importance of tourism industry role in moving the
regional and national economy; (4) Explore, develop, and preserve the
cultural values. The target of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015 is to make
Surakarta become Top of the Mind especially in tourism sector. This
tourism event is expected to be a solution to introduce and develop the
region tourism potencies especially in Surakarta.
Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015 has a different concept from last
year; the committees arrange a camping for the participants. Having a theme
“Back to, Nature Respect the Culture”, this tourism event also can be used
by Solo citizens as an education media in order to make the citizens pay
attention with nature and culture.
1. The preparation of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart
a. Preparation
The preparation of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart is started five
months in advance. The preparation consists of Promotion and proposal
submission which were arranged by Surakarta Culture and Tourism
Department and ASITA. Surakarta Culture and Tourism Department
and ASITA held road show in several cities and also through electronic
media to promote this tourism event.
b. The preparation of infrastructure in Bengawan Solo Travel Mart
1. Committee arrangement
The committees in Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015 was
created from the merger between Surakarta’s Culture and
Tourism Department, ASITA members, PHRI (Persatuan Hotel
dan Restaurant Indonesia) members and several tourism agencies
in Surakarta. There are several divisions in the committee and
each person works according to their skill. Below is the data of
Bengawan Solo Travel Mart’s committee:
Protector :
1. Surakarta’s Mayor
Advisory:
1. Surakarta’s Culture and Tourism Department Chief
2. The chief of DPC ASITA
3. The chief of BPC PHRI Surakarta
4. The chief of BPPIS Surakarta
5. The chief of HPI Surakarta
Steering Committee:
1. Wahyu Adi Wicaksono
Organizing Committee:
Chief Committee : Robbie Arisutantyo
The Head Deputy of Secretariat and Event : Puji Astuti
1. Secretariat : M. Noeryoto
: Donny Prasetyo
2. Buyer Registration : Vera Christine
3. Seller Registration : Intan Permata
4. Tour and Event : Sunardi
5. Website : Daniel Setiawan
6. Documentation : Tonny Daryono
Facilities and Infrastructure : Pri Siswanto
1. Hotel : Vitara Aryani
: MSU. Asji
2. Consumption : Emy Yuliawati
: Dayang N.
3. Equipment : Daniel Setiawan
Funds and Sponsorship : Mirza Ananda
Treasurer : Agus Tony
: Dyah Ratna H.
Sponsorship : Muhamad Gunawan
: Gatot Budi K
: Basid Burhanudin
2. Participants enlistment
There are 43 sellers and 35 buyers which participated in Bengawan
Solo Travel Mart 2015. Sellers are a tourism stakeholder from Surakarta and
around such as hotel, restaurants, travel agencies etc. Meanwhile, buyers
come from travel agents in Indonesia or foreign countries; each travel
agency sends their delegate and co-delegate to do a transaction with seller.
Below is the table list of sellers and buyers in Bengawan Solo Travel Mart:
Table 1: Data of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart Sellers
No. Institution No Institution
1. Mentari Holidays 24. Hotel D'Wangsa HAP
2. Solo Paragon Hotel and
Residences
25. Hotel Lorin Solo
3. Hotel Eastparc Yogyakarta 26. Maestro Bali Indo
4. Surya Yudha Park Banjarnegara 27. Madina Prima Indonesia
5. Panca Wisata 28. Double Decker Casual Dining
6. Grand Orchid Hotel 29. Kusuma Sahid Prince Hotel
7. PT Brawijaya Lestari 30. Jambuluwuk Hotel & Resort
8. Aston Solo Hotel 31. Sinergi Event
9. Mandira Usaha Tama 32. Vienna Tour & Travel
10. The Sunan Hotel Solo 33. Dewa Arystama
11. Fave Hotel Solo 34. Citilink Airlines
12. Hotel Syariah Arini 35. Megaland Hotel Solo
13. Hotel Aziza Solo 36. The Sunan Hotel Solo
14. De Solo Boutique Hotel & Resto 37. Baluwarti Arts Village
15. Hotel Pramesthi 38. Graha Setyowati
16. Hotel Pose In Solo 39. Batik Kencana Murni
17. Rumah Batu Villa and Spa 40. Bus Yess
Table 2: Data of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart Buyer
18. The Gambir Anom Hotel 41. PT Taman Wisata Candi
19. Hotel Brothers Solo Baru 42. Rosalia Indah
20. Electratour 43. D'duwa oleh-oleh
21. Cartenz Adventure Services 44. Surya Hotel Semarang
22. Gava Holiday
23. Best Western Premiere Solo Baru
No. Institution No. Institution
1. Zata Tour 21. TX Travel
2. Travarey Holiday 22. Trans Borneo
3. Pesona Ceria Travel 23. PT Fun Days Tours and
Travel
4. Kembang Wisata 24. Fun En Relax Leisure
5. KCBJ Tour Bali 25. Pajajaran Tour Travel
6. Raka Lampung 26. PT. Tripvisto Nusantara
Jaya
7. Panca Wisata Tour and Travel 27. Candi Tour
8. Raafi Tours & Travel 28. Asterindo Travel
9. Zatina 29. Putra Buana TNT
10. Safa Tour and Travel 30. Nusantara Alam Sejahtera
11. PT. Surya Mufindo Mandiri 31. PT Nata Buana
3. Volunteer recruitment
In Bengawan Solo Travel Mart there is volunteer team to help the
committees and the participants before, during the events and after the event
finished. In Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015 the committees recruit 10
people which consist of students from several universities.
4. The event in Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015
In Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015 there are several activities. Each
activity is connected to make the event run well. For this year there are few
12. Lombok Elok Wisata Tours
&Travel
32. DPP ASITA
13. Vivo Tour 33. PT. Bali Lovindo Wisata
14. ENW Travel 34. Orenz Traveller
15. PT. Gema Destinasi Wisata Tour
& Travel
16. Attin Tour & Travel
17. Coca Cola Ungaran
18. Mulki Tour Travel
19. Lombok Exotic Holidays
20. Q-Back Tours & Travel
different activities than last year. Below are few main activities in
Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015:
a. Solo City Tour
The purpose of Solo City Tour is to introduce the tourism
attraction in Surakarta both the heritage and the modern culture of
Surakarta. Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015 was held simultaneously
with Solo Great Sale which is held by Surakarta Government at
February. The committees use this opportunity to introduce the
shopping destination in Surakarta. The participants were invited to go
surround the city by bus and visit famous place in Surakarta such as
Mangkunegaran Palace, Triwindu Market, Ngarsopuro, Klewer
market, and several shopping centers in Solo.
b. Camping
Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015 has a different concept than
last year; the committees arrange a camping for the participants. The
camping last for 2 days 1 night and it took place in Taman Hutan
Rakyat (Tahura), Ngargoyoso, Karanganyar. The beauty of nature and
the fresh air surrounded by trees, Tahura is enjoyable place for
camping.
There are few activities done by the participants such as dinner
party entitled “Bonfire above the Cloud”, campfire, and also the
participants were invited to fly the lantern which is provided by the
committees. The committees of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart wants to
give a different experience to the participants and hopefully all the
participants happy and satisfied in this camping.
c. Sukuh Temple
At February 13th
2015, the participants visit Sukuh Temple at 10
am. Sukuh temple is also one of the tourist destinations promoted in
the event. Sukuh temple is one of the heritage cultures in Surakarta. It
is located near Tahura so makes it easy to the participants to go there.
The participants can know about the history of Sukuh Temple and also
take photos around there. By visits heritage destination, ASITA hopes
that it will increase the tourism attraction especially the heritage
destination.
d. Kemuning Tea Garden
Kemuning Tea Garden is located between Sukuh temple and
Cetho temple. In this tea garden the participants can enjoy the fresh air
and the scenery of vast tea garden. Buyers can explore the garden tea
through “tea walk”. Besides, they can enjoy a cup of hot tea and
genuine mountainous area with a good view of green tea gardens.
The participants invited in outbound activity and play some fun
games. By choose Kemuning Tea Garden as one of the Bengawan
Solo Travel Mart Destination, hopefully it will boost the popularity of
Kemuning itself and also the nature centers destination in Surakarta.
e. Sangiran Archaeological Museum
Sangiran Archaeological Museum is an area where the
archaeological excavations of prehistoric human fossils
Pithecanthropus Erectus (Java man) found. The fossil was discovered
in 1936 by archaeologists from the Netherlands. This museum is the
one and only archaeological museum in Java. The museum contains
human skulls, bones of animal, also an overview of life in antiquity.
In this museum the committees let the participants to see
Javanese human fossil that only found in Surakarta. The location of
Sangiran is far from the Surakarta so it makes this museum less
popular than other tourist destinations. By the reason above, ASITA
chooses Sangiran as one of the destinations to make Sangiran increase
the popularity.
f. Dinner Party
Dinner Party was followed by all participants and the
committees of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015. Entitled “Ketaman
Asmoro”, the dinner party was held on 14th
of February 2015 at 7 pm
in Ngarsopuro. The concept itself was made to increase the love of
Indonesian cultural diversity. The committee wore puppet characters
dress code, and the participants wore traditional clothes from each
province.
g. Table Top
Table Top is the main event in Bengawan Solo Travel Mart
2015. The event was held on February 15th
, 2015 at 08.00 a.m. at Sido
Luhur Ballroom, Aston Hotel Solo. In this event the sellers sell their
product to the buyers. There are few steps in the transaction; (1) first,
sellers and buyer change name card then sellers give presentation
about their product to the buyer; (2) after that they do the transaction.
Usually the sellers give souvenirs to the buyers such as voucher or
small gift and also brochure about their product.
The Table Top was arranged to increase the tourism attraction in
Surakarta. By selling tourism package, accommodation, or traditional
culinary product of Surakarta, hopefully it can boost the number of
tourist.
Rundown of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart Surakarta:
Friday, 13 February, 2015
07.00 – 08.00 Buyer registration
11.00 – 12.00 Solo City Tour
13.00 – 14.30 Explore Puro Mangkunegaran
15.00 – 17.00 prepare to go to TAHURA
19.00 – 22.00 Dinner “Bonfire above the Cloud”
Saturday, 14 February, 2015
07.00 Breakfast
10.00 – 10.30 Visit Sukuh Temple
11.00 – 13.00 Outbound and lunch in Kemuning garden tea
14.00 Arrive in Sangiran
17.00 Check in Hotel
19.00 – 22.00 Dinner in Ngarsopuro “Ketaman Asmoro”
Sunday, 15 February, 2015
07.00 Breakfast
07.30 – 08.00 Sellers Registration (Table Top)
08.00 Buyers Registration (Table Top)
15.00 Check out
C. Significance of volunteer role in Bengawan Solo Travel Mart and
the problem faced by volunteers during the event
A. The event of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015
I did job training at ASITA as a volunteer (in this event called
Marshall) in Bengawan Solo Travel Mart within a month and it was
performed from January 26 to February 26, 2015. Volunteers in events
become an essential part besides the committees itself. A tourism event
needs human resources as volunteers; especially tourism events which have
many preparations, participants and venues.
ASITA is one of the tourism associations which has limited human
resources, therefore they need assistance from outside ASITA. ASITA gives
the opportunity for the college students to participate in Bengawan Solo
Travel Mart 2015 as a volunteer. I did the job training as a volunteer who
helped the committees before and during the event
The results of my activities are:
1. Before the event starts:
a. Criteria of a volunteer of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart:
To become a volunteer, I must qualify the criteria:
1. Male or Female
2. 20-30 years old
3. College students
4. Understanding written and spoken English
5. Quick to understand, have a responsibility, and can work in
a team.
Candidates of volunteer must pass an interview test. The
ASITA’s secretary asked some questions about culture and tourist
attraction in Solo to the candidates.
b. Preparation before the event starts
The activities I performed before the events are:
1. Make a proposal submission, and then send it to the
sponsorships.
2. Make permission proposal for using the place.
3. Do follow up; confirm and update the buyers data about the
number of delegate and information about their arrival.
4. Update data sellers and approve seller’s promo material
such as brochure, souvenirs, and vouchers.
5. Do some preparations at Aston hotel as the hotel where the
event was held.
6. Receive information about the buyers arriving (especially
for volunteer in transport division)
2. During the event
a. Job description
There were four divisions of volunteers In Bengawan Solo
Travel Mart; (1) secretariat division, which had duties to made
proposal, permission letter, invitation, and responsible for
documentation; (2) transport division, which had a duty to picked up
the buyers and VIP guest then carried them to the hotel. There were
two teams in this division, Jogja team and Solo team. The Jogja team
picked up the buyers and guest in Jogja; (3) buyers and sellers
division, which had duties to manage the registration, accepted and
arranged the promo material, and also updated the data related to
buyers and sellers; (4) table top division which had duties to control
and organized the table top. Table top division was a collaboration of
volunteers that had already finished their job in each division.
The roles of the volunteer are:
1. Assisting the registration of buyers at Aston Solo Hotel.
2. Assisting and manage 2 days 1 night camping for all Bengawan
Solo Travel Mart participants in Tahura, Ngargoyoso,
Karanganyar
3. Assisting the committee to organize activities in Tahura and also
provide the participants need such as meal, snack, etc.
4. Arranging the room distribution for buyers.
5. Preparing the sellers promo material and equipment for Table Top.
6. Assisting the registration for seller at the table top session.
b. Name tag of the Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015
Everyone who was connected in the event should have a name
tag including the writer. The tag had to be worn every day of the event
because it gave an access to every place related to Bengawan Solo
Travel Mart 2015.
The name tag contains:
1. Name
2. Color code
3. Position
Only people with accreditation tag were allowed in the camping
venue or hotel area.
c. Uniform
In this event, I wore formal uniform, polo shirt given by the
committee, and also batik. The formal uniforms were blazer, blouse,
skirt, stoking, and heels. Every female volunteer had to wear make up
and have her hair styled in a bun. All of them shall be neat and tidy.
The schedule of the uniform was:
1. Registration : formal uniform
2. 2 day 1 night camping : green polo shirt
3. For dinner : batik
4. Table Top : formal uniform
d. Daily activities during the event
Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015 was started on February 13th
until February 15th
, 2015. I did my job training as a volunteer in
Bengawan Solo Travel 2015 and I worked in sellers division. There
were two venues in Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015; there were
outdoor and indoor venues. The event started on 13th
February but as a
volunteer I should stay in the venue before the event started. I came in
Aston Solo Hotel on 12th
February at eleven p.m. and I stayed in the
hotel. I woke up at five a.m., then I prepared myself by wearing
formal clothes and make up. At seven a.m. I went down to the fifth
floor to have breakfast, but in the middle of my breakfast, I heard
from the committees that there were few sellers that had already came
to do the registration so I went to the ground floor immediately to
assist the seller registration. I also helped in the buyer registration
because it was assisted by just one volunteer. In the registration I
guided the buyers filled the data, information and also gave them
information about the activities in Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015.
In the middle of the day the buyers one by one came in the hotel, then
checked in for a moment before they participated in the camping. The
buyers came from all around Indonesia and there were transport
division which was handled the buyer arrival. There were two teams
of transport division; Jogja team and Solo team. The Jogja team
picked up the buyers and guest from Jogja. At approximately 3 p.m. I
went to Tahura, Ngargoyoso, Karanganyar to assist 2 days 1 night
camping entitled “Back to Nature, Respect the Culture”.
The committees chose the theme because they wanted to make
a different atmosphere for the participants by holding camps. Besides,
by choosing Tahura as one of the venues in Bengawan Solo Travel
Mart 2015, ASITA also promoted Tahura as one of the tourism
destinations in Surakarta. I arrived at Tahura at approximately 5 p.m.
then immediately I went into committee room to put my bag and
prepared myself for the next activity. After that I prepared welcome
drink for the participants. While the buyers enjoyed the welcome
drink, the Chief Committee of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015,
Robbie Arisutantyo gave an opening speech to the participants. At
6.30 p.m. I helped the committeess to prepare dinner for buyers. The
dinner entitled “Bonfire above the Cloud” and the participants wore
sarong as the dress code.
After dinner, the participants enjoyed the night by “dangdutan”
and also enjoyed barbecue. I helped the committees to prepare the
barbecue by peeling the corn and then roasted it. Besides those
activities, the participants were also invited to fly the lantern which
was provided by the committees. This activity was really fun because
we also wrote down the hopes then hung it in the lantern before we
flew it together. I also joined this activity because it was such a new
experience for me to fly the lantern. After that, together we formed a
circle and we held hands while singing “Kemesraan”. Singing together
with all the committees and participants made me feel close with
them. At approximately 12 a.m. the activity was done and all the
participants, committees, and volunteers should go to sleep. All of the
camping participants slept in the tent provided by committees
including all of the volunteers. At the first time we arrived in Tahura,
unfortunately it was raining and it caused the tents wet and became
uncomfortable for sleeping. It became problematic when the sleeping
time came. To anticipate this, the committees already prepared
waterproof mat and mattress. I also slept in the tent with one of the
girls volunteers. When I slept in the tent, the temperature was really
cold that made me difficult to sleep. However, I should sleep quickly
because I must wake up early.
On February 14th
I woke up at 6a.m. then I took a bath and
prepared myself immediately wearing a sporty clothes. Before we
started the activity for that day, together we did some physical
exercises and stretching including the writer. After that, I changed my
clothes into a green polo shirt given by the committees. At
approximately 7 a.m. I assisted the committees to prepare breakfast
for all the participants. After the breakfast finished, I went to the
committee’s room because I should pack up my bag because we were
going to visit some destinations before we went back to Solo. But
before we left, we took a moment for took some pictures and took a
“selfie” with all the participants. After we were ready, we left Tahura
and then went to Sukuh Temple as our first destination. In the Sukuh
Temple the buyers, which mostly came from outside Surakarta, were
invited to enjoy the beauty of Sukuh Temple. The buyers could know
about the history of Sukuh Temple and also took photos around there.
While the buyers enjoyed the Sukuh Temple, my volunteer friends
and I decided to stay in the bus because of the limited time. The
second destination was Kemuning Tea Garden. In Kemuning Tea
Garden there were few activities done by the buyers such as outbound
and lunch. But before I joined the activity, I heard from the
committees that there were sellers that came in the hotel to do the
registration. As a volunteer in sellers division, it was my responsibility
to assist with anything related to sellers. After hearing the news, I
went back to Solo immediately together with some of the committees.
At approximately 1 p.m. I arrived at the Aston Solo Hotel then I
went to my room to put my bag and stuff before I did my job. But
when I asked the committees about the sellers, apparently there was
no seller that came in the hotel. So I end up staying in my room and
had nothing to do. Feeling bored, I asked the committees what I
should do. Then one the committees asked me to go down to the
ground floor to help another volunteer arranged the room distribution
for buyers after the camping finished. After I arrived on the ground
floor, I found that the room distribution for the buyers was not
prepared by the committees so together with my volunteer friend, we
asked assistance from Aston Solo Hotel to make the list of room
distribution. The committee, who managed the accommodation for
buyers, unfortunately still followed the camping so I handled the room
distribution with my friend. After the list was finished, we gave a
room card for buyers to access the room but the card is uncompleted
so there was several that still missing.
At approximately 1 p.m. the buyers were arrived in the hotel
then they directly went to my desk to ask the room card for check in.
The process of room distribution was a little chaotic. Some buyers
complained about the process of room distribution which ran slowly
and they also complained about the roommate that did not meet their
expectations. Besides, the room distribution assisted by two volunteers
who are my friend and I, and we all girls. We felt mentally drop down
when the buyers complained to us with a little anger, and the buyer
who complained were mostly men. We should work in a rush and we
should make sure to the hotel staff about the missing room card, but
finally the room distribution could be finished well. After the buyers
check in, the next activity was dinner party at Ngarsopuro. At first, all
the volunteers should assist the dinner party, but after having some
problems with the room distribution, some of the volunteers decided
to stay in the hotel including me, just in case there was a problem in
the hotel. In the afternoon I went upstairs to my room to take a bath
and prepared myself, after that I went back again to the ground floor.
The dinner was started at 7 p.m. and all the buyers wore traditional
costume from each of their provinces.
The dinner party entitled “Ketaman Asmoro” was held in
Ngarsopuro. Not only the buyers, but the committees also wore
costumes for dinner. The committee wore puppet character as the
dress code. The concept of the dinner was made to increase the love of
Indonesian cultural diversity. When I stayed in the hotel I did some
activities such as checking the seller’s promo material that had still
been unfinished and received several sellers that came to do the
registration. After the dinner party finished, there were buyers that still
had a problem with the room distribution, so I helped them by asking
the room key to the receptionist. All volunteers, which stayed in the
hotel, had not had dinner so we went out to have dinner together. I
came back to the hotel at approximately 1 a.m., and then I directly
went to the Sido Luhur Ballroom where the table top session next
morning would be held. I joined a short technical meeting and I was
briefed for the table top session next morning and we also checked the
seller’s promo material and prepared the ballroom where the table top
was held. I prepared the banner and arranged the table and the chair
for registration. At 3 a.m. I went back to my room to sleep.
February 15th, 2015 became the most important day for
Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015. The third day was when the main
agenda, the table top session, held. I woke up at 5 a.m., then took a
bath and prepared myself. For the table top session I wore formal
clothes, make up and had my hair styled in a bun. After that I went
down to the fifth floor to have breakfast before assisted the
registration. At 7 pm before the table top started, I handled the
registration for sellers. In the sellers registration I guided the sellers
delegation to fill the registration data such as the institution name and
the signature as a proof that they came to the table top session. The
first session of the table top was held at 8 a.m. and before the second
session was held, there was a coffee break at 10 a.m. At 12 a.m. all the
table top participants had lunch and it was also time to break. The
table top session was basically a transaction between seller and the
buyer. The sellers were tourism stakeholder from Surakarta and
around such as hotel, restaurants, travel agencies, transport provider,
traditional food vendor, and etc. Meanwhile, buyers came from travel
agents in Indonesia or foreign countries.
There were several steps in the transaction; (1) first, sellers and
buyer changed name card, then sellers gave a presentation about their
product to the buyer; (2) after that they did the transaction. Usually the
sellers gave souvenirs to the buyers such as voucher or small gift and
also brochure about their product. Products which sold by the sellers
such as tourism package, accommodation, transports, and traditional
culinary products of Surakarta. The sellers participants were Solo
Paragon Hotel and Residences, Vienna Tour & Travel, Citilink
Airlines, D'duwa Oleh-Oleh, and etc, meanwhile the buyers were Zata
Tour, Travarey Holiday, Pesona Ceria Travel, TX Travel, Trans
Borneo, and etc. Table Top activity basically became a medium to sell
tourism product from Surakarta to the tourism stakeholder from other
cities in Indonesia. Hopefully, the table top activity in Bengawan Solo
Travel Mart 2015 would give benefits, especially for the tourism
industry in Surakarta and the buyers that came from all cities around
Indonesia would be more interested in the tourism potencies of Solo
and certainly would bring more tourists to visit Surakarta.
At the break time, buyer from Hong Kong Miss Iris Hau asked
me where the rest room is and I gave her direction to the restroom.
That was the first time I speak with her because during the event she
was helped by the committee. Although she just spoke a little, I felt
that her pronunciation was pretty clear for person who lived in the
country that did not use English as mother tongue. Besides assisting
the registration in table top session, I also took several photos for
documentation when the session was almost end. The table top session
finished at 3 p.m. and after the table top finished, I entered the
ballroom to clean up the equipment then had lunch. In the afternoon I
went upstairs to my room to pack all my back and ready to go home.
Before went home, I had some photos with all the committees and all
the volunteer team.
It was such a new experience for me to have an internship in a
big tourism event. As an English Diploma student, unfortunately I
rarely used English during the event. But one of the unforgettable
experiences was when I could speak directly with Miss Iris Hau,
buyers from Hong Kong although it just a little. I also often found new
English word, especially when I stayed in the Hotel such as concierge,
hotelier, etc. It enriched my English vocabulary especially vocabulary
that related with tourism and hospitality.
Problems are regular things faced by every organization. The
volunteer division of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015 also had its
own problem. The lack of communication and briefing became the
major problem in Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015. It often caused
misunderstanding between the committees and fellow volunteers, for
example when I did the room distribution for buyers. The committees
did not give me the list of the room distribution. Finally, I asked
assistance from Aston Solo Hotel to make the room distribution list.
The lack of volunteers also became a problem, although it did not
really affect the event. But as a big event, the committees should
anticipate by adding more volunteers for the event. In Bengawan Solo
Travel Mart 2015 there were 29 committees and 10 volunteers,
meanwhile there were many jobs desk to do in Bengawan Solo Travel
Mart 2015. The number of committees and volunteers were not
balanced so it caused many problems. For example, when the
committees were asked help from the volunteers, but at the same time
the volunteers were busy with the other job desk. The divisions of the
volunteers were also unbalance. There were only 10 volunteers and
mostly they worked in pick up division. It simply affected the
volunteers in sellers, buyers, and secretariat division, which only
assisted by two people.
B. The problem faced by the volunteer during Bengawan Solo
Travel Mart
A big event usually has so many problems that can affect the
activities of the event. The arising problem must be solved as soon as
possible to prevent further problems. As I mention before in previous
sub, one of them is the lack of communication and briefing. Less
communication and briefing make the coordination of the event do not
work in order and often caused misunderstanding. To solve this problem,
the committees of Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015 should try to give a
briefing to the volunteers before every activity in Bengawan Solo Travel
Mart 2015 started. Also the committees should hold an evaluation each
day. It will prevent the same mistakes happen in the next day. For
example, I had a problem about the room distribution that I already
mentioned in the previous sub chapter. The problem should not have
occurred if the committees briefed the volunteers first.
As an English Diploma student who worked in tourism event, I
observed many things related with English in Bengawan Solo Travel
Mart 2015. For international tourism event, the committees did not equip
the volunteer with English. Although there was just one buyer from
foreign country, but it was still important for the volunteer to understand
English both spoken and written. It could be anticipation just in case the
foreign buyer asked for assistance from the volunteer. Furthermore, at
this event the volunteers should stay in the hotel for several days and
some of the volunteer did not understand English well, so they were
sometimes confused with some terms related to hospitality. For example
when I needed the towel in my room replaced with the clean one by the
room boy, my friend was mistakenly place “clean the room” door sign
instead of “make up the room” sign. The result was the room boy just
cleaned my room but did not replace the towel, the bedspread, the
doormat and etc. Another example was when one of the committees
asked my friend to call the concierge. My friend did not understand what
the concierge means, so he asked me and I helped him to search the
concierge while explain what the concierge was.
To anticipate this problem, the committees should provide the
volunteer with English and knowledge especially related ton
tourism and hospitality. They should give a short course a month or
maybe a week before the event started.
Besides, another problem found during the job training was the
lack of volunteers. There were only ten volunteers in Bengawan Solo
Travel Mart 2015 but it was not enough for a big event. To anticipate this
problem, the committees of Bengawan Solo Trave l Mart 2015 alongside
with Surakarta Culture and Tourism Department should socialize the
event to public citizens, especially to the college student to gain the
interest in tourism event. The socialization could be done by holding a
road show and seminar in many universities and posting information
about the event through social media or newspaper. By doing
socialization it would attract the public, especially young people to apply
as a volunteer in Bengawan Solo Travel Mart 2015.
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