More Swedes arrived in Bali: Report

More Swedes arrived in Bali: Report

SANUR, Bali, (Antara): Bali receives more visitors from Sweden with the number of Swedish visitors increasing by 17.4 percent between January and September 2000 as compared to the same period last year.

Based on the data from the province's Ministry of Culture and Tourism office, the number of Swedish visitors reached 16,727 compared to only 14,249 last year, said Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya from the Sweden Consulate office in Sanur.

Some foreign countries have issued travel warnings and even travel bans to discourage or prevent their citizens from visiting Bali following a riot in West Nusa Tenggara last January.

Widjaya said Indonesia, particularly Bali, must actively promote its best tourist destinations and improve the country's tarnished image.

"It is important to launch a special promotion to attract visitors, especially from Sweden," said Widjaya who is also chairman of Bali Village.

Widjaya said it would be useless if the central government did not support promotional activities carried out by provincial and regional tourism related industries.

The ongoing multidimensional crisis has badly affected tourism in Indonesia.

"We are still depending on foreign assistance and therefore the government must be more proactive in promoting tourism," he said.

Any promotional effort need to be done comprehensively, encompassing various sectors, he said.

"The government has to reintroduce Indonesia to the outside world in a fair way and honestly tell them what is really happening in the country," he said.

To improve Indonesia's image, Indonesia can participate in various tourism marts such as the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) in Berlin, Germany or the Asian Tourism Forum (ATF).