East Nusa Tenggara's (NTT's) tourism and creative economic office has identified 1,181 tourist attractions located in 22 districts and municipalities in the province.
"New natural and cultural tourism attractions have been identified," Wayan Darmawa, head of the NTT tourism and creative economic office, stated here on Thursday.
The natural ecosystem and culture are the strengths of these attractions, he noted.
The NTT government will focus on promoting environmental and cultural preservation to support sustainable tourism, he remarked.
Darmawa emphasized that traditional houses and kampongs will be preserved.
Raknamo Dam in Kupang and Rotiklot Dam in Belu are among the new tourism attractions, he revealed.
The NTT tourism office will promote at least five newly developed tourism attractions: Liman Beach on Semau Isle in Kupang District, Mulut Seribu waters in Rote Ndao District, and Fatumnasi natural and cultural tourism attractions in South Timur Tengah.
Other attractions to be further promoted comprise the Praimadita traditional kampong in East Sumba District, Moru Beach in Alor District, and Kelimutu National Park in Ende Distric, Flores Island.
The new tourist attractions will be developed by involving the local villages to boost the province's rural economy.
In the meantime, the Indonesian Tourism Ministry has set a target to attract some 20 million foreign tourists in 2019.
During the January-April 2019 period, Indonesia had received 5.12 million foreign tourists, a 3.22 percent rise as compared to 4.96 percent during the corresponding time frame in the previous year.
Editor : I Komang Suparta
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