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.