Indonesia Eying More Philippine Tourists

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Indonesia has set itself the target of attracting 275 thousand Philippine tourists until the end of this year, a tourism official said.

To that end, the Tourism Ministry will step up its promotional campaign in the neighboring country, the ministry's deputy assistant for the development of Southeast Asian market Rizki Handayani Mustafa said here on Tuesday.

"We have raised the target of tourist arrivals from the Philippines for this year to 275 thousand," Rizki said.

Last year, a total of 143,538 Philippine tourists visited Indonesia.

Rizki said the Philippine market for the Indonesian tourism industry has been promising in the past few years along with the country's high economic growth which led to a significant rise in the  number of middle class people.

"The number of Philippine outbound tourists reaches 7.855 million and that we still have the potential to attract more Philippine tourists," he said.

Moreover, the number of Philippine tourist arrivals in  Indonesia currently represents only 3.22 percent of the Philippine outbound tourists, he said.

Rizki said his side has begun mapping the potential market for the Indonesian tourism.

"The peak season in the Philippines is May and October. Most of Filipinos are fond of visiting  Indonesian tourist destinations such as Jakarta, Batam, Bali, Tanjung Uban, and Tanjung Pinang," he said.(WDY)