Govt eyes tourists from China, India, Mid-East

Govt eyes tourists from China, India, Mid-East

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post/Bandung

The government plans to boost promotion for the nation's
tourism abroad so as to lure more tourists, notably those from
China, India and Middle East, Minister for Cultural and Tourism
Affairs Jero Wacik said on Sunday.

Jero said the government has set aside a budget of Rp 180
billion for promotional purposes next year, or double the amount
allocated for 2004, reflecting the government's awareness of the
importance of promotion.

"We want foreign tourists visiting our country to reach 10
million by 2009, which our estimates show could generate some Rp
100 trillion (US$10.1 billion) in total income," Jero said after
opening a tourism exhibition in Bandung, West Java.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), foreign
tourist arrivals as of October stood at 3.8 million, or higher
than the full-year overseas tourists in 2003, which stood at 3.69
million -- an early indication of the sector's continued recovery
following the slump that resulted from the 2002 bombing in Bali.

On average, some 5.5 million foreign tourists per year visited
the country before the bombing, generating about $6 billion in
foreign exchange incomes.

With the sector slowly improving, Jero said, the country was
seeking to promote tourism to new -- but largely untapped --
potential markets such as China, India and Middle East.

To date, visitors from Japan, Australia and Europe have been
the largest source of foreign tourists for Indonesia.

"China, for instance, sends some 20 million of tourists across
the world every year, but only some 80,000 of them -- or a tiny
fraction of them -- come to Indonesia," Jero said.