RI firms attracting more European tourists

RI firms attracting more European tourists

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian companies have won contracts for the visit of over
35,000 tourists from European countries, creating optimism that
the country will attract more than one million visitors from
Europe, said an official on Monday.

"We expect that between one million and 1.5 million tourists
from European countries will visit Indonesia this year," head of
promotion affairs for West and East European countries at the
Office of State Minister of Culture and Tourism Rita Sofia told
The Jakarta Post.

She said about 800,000 tourists from European countries
visited Indonesia last year. Five countries -- the Netherlands,
Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain -- were the largest
contributors to the number of European visitors.

She explained that the contracts were signed by Indonesian
companies and their counterparts in the world's biggest tourism
event, Internationale Tourismo Borse (ITB) in Berlin, held from
March 11 to March 15.

Representatives of 70 hotels, 30 tour operators, three tourism
associations and six provincial tourism offices in the country
took part in the event.

According to Sofia, State Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero
Wacik had told the participants of the event that Indonesia would
change some things to make Indonesia more attractive for foreign
tourists.

One of those changes would be that flag carrier Garuda
Indonesia would resume flights from Indonesia to Europe in the
middle of the year, the minister was quoted by Sofia as saying.

Garuda Indonesia stopped regular service to many European
destinations last year.

Wacik also told the participants that Indonesia would increase
the number of countries eligible for a visa-on-arrival.

Currently, tourists who are nationals from the United States,
Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, the United
Arab Emirates, Finland, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Italy,
Japan, Germany, Canada, South Korea, Norway, France and Taiwan
are eligible for the visa-on-arrival.

But the government announced earlier this month that it would
be expanded to include 16 more countries -- including Saudi
Arabia, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, China, India, Kuwait
and Egypt -- to get the visa-on-arrival.

Sofia said in January that nine Indonesian companies
consisting of three hotels and six travel agents also signed
contracts with foreign counterparts at the Feria International
Turismo (FITUR) exhibition in Madrid. (004)