Ministry Allocates Rp3.25 Trillion For Tourism Promotion

Denpasar (Antara Bali)- The tourism ministry has allocated Rp3.25 trillion for promoting tourism internationally.

"Next year, we will post branding in various international media," I Gde Pitana, deputy for international tourism marketing development in the tourism ministry, said in a seminar on tourism held at the University of Udayana here on Friday.

The tourism promotion budget has been approved by the parliament, and 50 percent of the funds are to be used for promoting the Indonesian tourism brand.

Indonesia's current tourism brand campaign focuses on the theme "Wonderful Indonesia".

"We have to work seriously on our branding of Wonderful Indonesia. A brand will be accepted positively if it is communicated to the public incessantly," he noted.

In the meantime, the government hopes to lure more foreign tourists to the country in a bid to boost the shrinking state income amidst the global economic slump.

The U.N. World Tourism Organization ((UN-WTO) reports that a significant growth of 4 percent was recorded in foreign tourists worldwide during the first half of 2015, despite severe blows with security problems and diseases that struck many African countries.

Some 538 million tourists traveled to international destinations from January to June 2015, or 21 million more than in the same period last year, the Madrid-based agency said.

Tourism sites in Indonesia, which are rich in natural beauty, are among the best sellers in the world, but the potential has remained unfulfilled for a number of reasons.

Recently, the government has adopted a more liberal visa policy offering visa free travel to tourists from many countries.

"Visa free travel is one of the easiest ways of luring more tourists to the country," an official was quoted as saying.

Also, the government has announced it would offer visa free travel for short term visitors from an additional 47 countries beginning next month.

The 47 countries would bring the number to 92 countries whose citizens no longer need visas in order to enjoy all tourist sites in the country. (WDY)