Taiwanese, Malaysians top North Sulawesi visitors

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 03/09/2009 3:38 PM  

Foreign travellers from Malaysia and Taiwan predominates the North Sulawesi tourist scene early this year, tourism official said on Monday. 

According to the regional Culture and Tourism Agency head for North Sulawest Boy Rompas, 321 Malaysians and 316 Taiwanese have visited the region throughout the month of January. 

"The total number of foreign visitors in North Sulawesi within that month reached 1,690 people, based on Manado's Sam Raulangi Airport's disembarkation records," Rompas said, as quoted by Antara news. 

He added that there has been a 117.6 percent increase of foreigners this year, when compared to the same period last year. 

Rompas said the number of visitors was expected to spike around May, when North Sulawesi would be holding the World Ocean Conference (WOC) and the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) between May 11 to May 15 in Manado. (amr)