Indonesia Targets To Attract At Least 350 Thousand Indian Tourists

Kolkata (Antara Bali)- The Tourism Ministry has set a target of attracting at least 350 thousand Indian tourists this year.

"The target is quite high, but we are optimistic that it can be achieved," Dody Prianto, an official of the tourism ministry, stated here, Monday.

During the first semester of this year, a total of 185,911 Indian tourists visited Indonesia, he said on the sidelines of a sales million event.

The ministry has intensified promotional activities and introduced new tourist destinations, in addition to Bali and Yogyakarta, to the Indian people.

 "We will promote other regions, such as the 10 'new Bali' tourist destinations that include Tanjung Lesung, Pulau Seribu (One Thousand Islands), Lake Toba, Mandalika, Wakatobi, and Morotai," he noted.

The tourism industry is currently the fourth-largest source of foreign exchange earnings for the state.

"Hopefully, it will become the number one as we could not solely rely on natural resources, which are limited," he remarked.

Ngurah Susrama, an Indonesian travel agent, believes India is a potential market for the Indonesian tourism industry as Bali, Yogyakarta, Jakarta, and Lombok are popular destinations among the people of the country.

Besides this, India's population is huge, or four folds that of Indonesia, he added.

The number of Indian tourist arrivals in Indonesia has continued to increase. They comprise various kinds of tourists, ranging from those with a low budget to those with a high end spending limit and are willing to pay US$1,000 per night, he added.  
   
In 2015, Indonesia had received 267,082 Indian tourists, or an increase of 28 percent, from 231,266 people in the previous year.

Of the top ten countries contributing tourists to Indonesia, India ranks seventh after China, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and Japan.

The Indonesian government hopes to receive 12 million foreign tourists this year. (WDY)