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.