Tourist arrivals below target

Tourist arrivals below target

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite improvements in the country's security and political conditions, the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the first six months of the year failed to meet expectations.

"Tourist arrivals in the first semester were below expectations. But we remain upbeat that in the second semester the number will be closer to the target," said Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik at the Presidential Palace on Monday.

Jero said 2.6 million foreign tourists visited the country in the first half of the year, up 7 percent from the same period last year. However, this year's first half figure was still below the target of three million visitors.

The failure to reach the target was attributed to a lack of promotion as well as a delay in providing visas on arrival for tourists from China and India, the minister said.

Indonesia began providing the visa on arrival for tourists from China and India this month. The facility was originally expected to come into effect in May. With the visa on arrival now in effect, the government expects to attract some 150,000 tourists from the two countries over the remainder of the year, particularly to the resort islands of Bali and Lombok.

The government has set a target of six million visitors this year, generating about US$5.8 billion in foreign exchange revenue. Last year, 5.3 million foreign tourists traveled to the archipelago, spending about $5 billion.

Indonesia's tourist sector has been in the doldrums since the Bali bombings in October 2002 that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, and the bombings at the JW Marriott Hotel and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, in August 2003 and September 2004, respectively.

The bird flu scare in Asia and the Dec. 26 tsunami have worsened the situation.