RI expects more tourists

RI expects more tourists

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia can expect more foreign visitors in
the near future due to the wide coverage of the recent meetings
of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) here, a South
Korean tourism executive says.

"At the very least more Koreans will visit Indonesia because
the media coverage on the APEC meetings has created terrific
awareness of Indonesia as an attractive tour destination," the
director of Korea National Tourism Corporation for Singapore,
Chang Ki-deuk, said here yesterday.

News coverage of the APEC meetings dominated the prime
pages of major Korean newspapers, as well as prime time on both
radio and television.

He said the number of South Koreans visiting Indonesia is
expected to increase from 65,000 last year to 85,000 this year.

Indonesia recorded a total of 3.4 million foreign visitors
last year and expects some 3.8 million this year.

Chang also said that the number of tourist arrivals in Korea
increased from 3.23 million in 1992 to 3.4 million last year.

The number of Indonesians visiting South Korea is quite small.
Only 25,000 visited there last year and the annual growth rate
is only one to two percent. (icn)