Indonesia Can Attract 40 Million Foreign Tourists: Airasia CEO

Jakarta (Antara Bali) -- Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Group Tony Fernandes believes that Indonesia, which has interesting sights in various regions, can attract 40 million foreign tourists every year.

"Currently, Indonesia sees at least ten million foreign tourist arrivals. I believe the country can attract approximately 40 million people per year," Fernandes said here on Tuesday.

He added that AirAsia Indonesia X would like to introduce long-distance flight routes from Indonesia to other countries such as China and India.

The management of the company has met with Minister of Transportation Ignatius Jonan and Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Rini Soemarno to discuss the opening of these flight routes.

According to the CEO, the government implemented a strategic policy to exempt a number of countries from paying visa fees, and this needs to be followed-up by opening more direct flight routes to Indonesia.

"There should be more direct flights to Indonesia so more foreign tourists travel to the country," Fernandes emphasized.

The total foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia in April 2015 reached 749,882, which is the highest number recorded in the last decade. It marks an increase of 3.24 percent from 726,332 tourists in the same period last year.

Recently, Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya said that cumulatively in the January-April 2015 period, the number of foreign tourists reached 3.04917 million, or a 3.44 percent rise from that in the same period last year, when it was recorded at 2,947,684 tourists.

He added that the tourism sector was experiencing an upward trend, although in the first four months of 2015, the figure saw a 4 percent drop.

"Seeing this trend, we are optimistic that the target of 12 million foreign tourists by the end of this year will be achieved," Yahya affirmed. (WDY)