Pekanbaru residents prefer holidays to West Sumatra rather than Riau

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Pekanbaru residents prefer holidays to West Sumatra rather than Riau

Visitors played tour boats in Kampung Eropa at Lembah Harau, Limapuluhkota Regency, West Sumatra, on Thursday, March 7, 2019. Tourist Attractions that displaying replicas of icons from countries in Europe became a favorite destination for family tourism and education every weekend or during the holidays. ANTARA PHOTOS / Iggoy el Fitra / WSJ.

Pekanbaru (ANTARA) - A number of residents of Pekanbaru City said they preferred to carry out a vacation in West Sumatra rather than in Riau Province after using their voting rights in simultaneous elections on 2019.

A Pekanbaru resident, Andika (36), said on Saturday that his family was on vacation in the city of Bukittinggi after doing a vote at polling both on April 17.

"From Bukittinggi, I directly went to Lembah Harau, Payakumbuh. We just returned home on Sunday, "Andika said when contacted from Pekanbaru, Riau.

He said his family prefered to go on vacation to West Sumatra because many tourist attractions can be visited. They went to Bukittinggi by the road from Pekanbaru which took around 4-5 hours.

He said "If in Riau, I am confused about what to see,"

The same thing was expressed by Irvan (34), a Pekanbaru citizen who chose a vacation to West Sumatra. He said the holiday after the election was quite long because there was a red date for Easter celebrations on April 19 as well.

"Finally take leave on Thursday so that we can get a Sunday vacation to West Sumatra," he said.

He said holidays in West Sumatra plus travel costs could be much cheaper than spending holidays in Pekanbaru. "In Pekanbaru, holidays just to the mall, can be more expensive than to West Sumatra. Because we all go home, "he said.

Meanwhile, Dede Firmansyah, the chair of the Riau Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies, hoped that the 2019 Presidential Election would take place in an orderly and peaceful manner. He also hoped that anyone who was elected president have to advance Indonesian tourism. "Whoever the president is tourism have to be a priority. Because by prioritizing tourism all components will definitely move, "he said.

Dede said Riau was among those who should be prioritized by the elected president later. Moreover, Riau is also known and has great potential with permissible tourism.

"So Riau is not notice when the 2019 presidential election only. After the presidential election and the election take place, Riau must also be considered, "he said.

He said Riau had penetrated the 3rd rank of permissible tourism in Indonesia. Therefore, whoever the president was, the development of tourism in Riau was also prioritized because people could feel the impact directly.

He admitted, now, the government has there attention to the development of tourism by improving infrastructure such as airports.

"Hopefully, there will be more new airports. But the plane ticket must go down, so that the target number of domestic tourists is reached, "he said. Translated by : Internship Student of ANTARA SUMBAR 2019