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Pak Heri has been welcoming guests to Djody Hostel on Jalan Jaksa for the last 22 years. Not only has he seen all sorts of guests, it seems he’s also figured out what’s wrong with the tourism industry in Jakarta.

Heri, who declined to have his picture taken, says attracting more visitors to the capital is simple; just preserve Jakarta’s culture and traditions and let the tourists appreciate its rich history.

You’ve been running Djody Hostel for 22 years. How has business changed in that time?

It’s gotten a bit slower. From 1988 until 1994 or ’95, this hostel was very busy. Now, we’re getting fewer people. I think this is partly because there are international airports all throughout Indonesia today, so tourists can go straight to their destination without having to bother stopping by Jakarta. If they come here at all, it’s often just to arrange some papers.

What brings most of your guests to Jakarta?

Most of them are here for work. This isn’t really a backpackers hostel. The people who come here are professionals. We have dentists and bankers. We also get some researchers and journalists. We even have one journalist who’s been living here on and off longer than I’ve worked here.

Do you think your clientele has changed over the years?

The clients who are coming in now are getting younger and richer. It seems like they’ve gotten really younger just this year, with a lot of them in the range of 19 to 20 years old.

Where are most of your guests from?

We get a mix of foreigners and Indonesians. Most of the foreigners are from continental Europe. We also get some Japanese, English, Americans and Canadians. We also occasionally get refugees from places like Sri Lanka and Iraq. But we don’t really let Africans stay here.

Really? Why not?

We have to be careful, because many of them are involved in the illegal drug trade. And we don’t want any trouble with the police. We also caution against accepting Afghans and Iranians.

You said you’ve had guests who are refugees. Can you tell us more about that?

We coordinate with the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Sometimes these agencies tell us they have some people they’d like us to take in. The organizations run background checks and sometimes send officials over here to do follow-up checks. A refugee can be here for anywhere from six months to a year.

What’s it like for refugees living in Jakarta?

Honestly, they should be more comfortable staying here than in America or Australia. Here, they enjoy more freedom, they have the United Nations setting up their medical care and food, and they can live wherever they like. Once they get to their destination, they have to stay at specific camps to have their documents processed.

Have the police ever caused problems for the hostel?

Never. Actually, we always cooperate with the authorities. For instance, in 1990, we had a very bad experience with some guests who refused to pay, and the police were more than helpful to us during the incident.

Why does Jakarta have trouble attracting foreign tourists?

There’s not much here. Maybe a tourist could keep himself busy here for two or three days, but after that, it gets boring. It’s not like there are that many sights in the city.

What do you think is keeping Jakarta from improving its tourism industry?

It seems like there’s little creativity in the city. There’s never anything new. You just have the old places like Ancol, but those are all run-down.

What do you think are the mistakes that the government has made in terms of managing Jakarta’s tourism?

There are so many places in Jakarta that the government could invest in, but it focuses almost exclusively on a few profitable areas and lets the rest of the city fall apart. Look at what happens when the government sets up exhibits in the city. A one-night event in Kemang attracts more business than a three-night event along Jalan Jaksa, so the government devotes all of its efforts to Kemang. Develop Jaksa? Forget it.

What should the government do then to draw more tourists?

It should set up a major venue to showcase Jakarta’s arts and culture. There’s nothing like that right now.

How would you compare Jakarta to the other cities you’ve been to?

I’ve been to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. One major difference is that those places actually are serious about taking care of their old buildings. There is lots of beautiful architecture here, in places like Batavia and Chinatown, that the government has allowed to fall apart. Here, if you have the money, you can buy a historic building and do whatever you want with it.

So what advice would you give to a foreigner on how to enjoy Jakarta?

Look for the real culture. I always get people asking me about bars and clubs, but so few of them ask about where to experience Jakarta’s culture.