S'pore to spend $1.17m promoting RI tourism

S'pore to spend $1.17m promoting RI tourism

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore said Tuesday it has earmarked S$2 million (US$1.17 million) to help promote giant neighbor Indonesia as a tourism destination.

The Tourism Cooperation Package aims to invite travel agents from South Korea, Japan and Taiwan as well as from Europe, the United States and Canada for familiarization visits to Singapore and Indonesia.

Travel agents will use Singapore as a "gateway" to Indonesian destinations such as the islands of Bintan, Bali and Lombok, Singapore's Tourism Board said in a statement.

"The twinning of Singapore with other nearby destinations such as Indonesia has always been a cornerstone of our regional tourism strategy," said Asad Shiraz, the senior tourism marketing director.

The scheme allows tourists to experience the amenities of Singapore as a modern cosmopolitan city, and have a taste of the rich cultural treasure and natural scenery that Indonesia offers.

Singapore's tourism board said the familiarization trips will give travel agents an opportunity "to see for themselves that Indonesia's tourism destinations are safe and hospitable for leisure and business travel."

Indonesia is facing separatist rebellions in the provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya and a bloody Muslim-Christian conflict in the Maluku islands.

Tensions between President Abdurrahman Wahid and a militant parliament have also put into question the country's political stability.

Officials have warned that a deterioration of the political situation in Indonesia would have severe consequences on its tiny but prosperous immediate neighbor Singapore.

The tourism cooperation package is part of a S$1.2 billion assistance to Indonesia announced in January by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.