RI to launch tourism drive

JAKARTA (JP): The government will soon launch a tourism campaign in several countries in Asia, Europe and northern America in a bid to mend the image of the country's tainted tourism sector.

I Gede Ardika, the directorate general of the Ministry of Tourism and Art, said on Tuesday that the countries would include Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Japan, Australia, the United States and Canada.

The program, which will be held in cooperation with the Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board, is the next phase of the "rescue program" that started two years ago to improve the battered tourism image because of the economic crisis and series of unrests. (06)