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.