Tour operators visit RI

JAKARTA (JP): A total of 38 tour operators from seven countries are taking part in a family tour program organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture, and the Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies (Asita), to provide information on Indonesia's tourism conditions to those operators.

Minister of Tourism, Art and Culture Marzuki Usman was quoted by Antara as saying that the goal of the program is to counter negative reports by the foreign media which have severely tarnished the country's image and prompted many tourists to cancel their trips to Indonesia.

He said during a welcoming ceremony on Sunday that by visiting Indonesia themselves, the tour operators will see that Indonesia's condition is not as bad as has been reported, and will then be more inclined to arrange tour packages to Indonesia.

During their two-weeks visit, the tour operators, which came from Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, France, India, Japan and Singapore, would visit nine tourist destinations in the country, namely Jakarta, Bali, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Medan, Parapat, Bukittinggi, Padang and Banjarmasin. (gis)