You might also like:
SURABAYA, the East Java capital, has been named the best tourism city at the 2018 Yokatta Wonderful Indonesia Tourism Awards.
Surabaya might not look like much at first but if you have the patience to explore, the port city is actually a vibrant, sprawling metropolis with towering skyscrapers, canals, and building from its Dutch colonial past.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Surabaya was the largest city in the Dutch East Indies and the center of trading in the nation, which was then a competitor of Shanghai and Hong Kong.
It boasts a thriving Chinatown (one of Indonesia’s biggest), a historic but little-known Arab quarter with a mosque that dates to the 15th century, a labyrinth of lanes and quaint little corners of interest.
More notably, the city is home to the symbolic Tugu Pahlawan (Heroes Monument), which is where it got its Kota Pahlawan (City of Heroes) nickname from. The Heroes Monument is dedicated to honoring the soldiers who passed away during the Battle of Surabaya invaded the city’s streets on Nov 10, 1945.
There are also statues commemorating independence scattered all over the city, as it was here that the battle for independence began.
Source: Shutterstock.
Today, the city remains one of the important financial hubs of the Indonesian archipelago, arguably second only to Jakarta, and the Port of Tanjung Perak is Indonesia’s second-busiest seaport.
Surabaya, a place that’s seen as closely linked to the birth of the Indonesian nation, ranked highest in its commitment, performance, innovation, creation, and leadership in building regional tourism
“Seen from the scoring, in terms of size and growth, Surabaya scored the highest. Its performance is marked at 40 percent,” Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya was quoted by kompas.com as saying.
Its efforts in beautifying itself with the construction of wide sidewalks and parks have even given it the reputation of being “a miniature of Singapore“.
Take a look at the Surabaya’s top sights:
A post shared by Ashraf Aboobucker (@ashrafaboobucker) on
A post shared by Dhista69 (@dhista69) on
on
A post shared by Antonius Hendy Tan (@antonius_hendy_tan) on
A post shared by Kopi Pait (@ardy_putra) on
Yokatta Wonderful Indonesia Tourism Awards recognizes cities and regencies with outstanding commitment, performance, innovation, creation and leadership in developing regional tourism, which is awarded to the regional governments for their contributions.
Other top Indonesian cities that were listed in the 2018 Yokatta Wonderful Indonesia Tourism Awards include Denpasar, Bandung, Semarang, Batam, Yogyakarta, Padang, Makassar, Balikpapan, and Palembang.
The post In pictures: Surabaya in the spotlight appeared first on Travel Wire Asia.
Source: travelwireasia.com