Tourism Ministry Steps Up Efforts to Draw More Foreign Visitors Beyond Bali

Jakarta Globe, Sarah Yuniarni, July 06, 2016

Mandalika resort on the island of Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, offers breathtaking
scenery consisting of beaches and lush rolling hills. (Antara Photo/Ahmad Subaidi)

Jakarta. The Ministry of Tourism has made it its top priority to attract at least 12 million foreign tourists to Indonesia, generating $12 billion in revenue, on the back of various marketing campaigns and the development of new destinations in the archipelago.

Last year, Indonesia missed its target of attracting at least 10 million foreign visitors, indicating that stronger efforts may be needed to achieve this year's target.

In order to achieve this, the tourism ministry has made several efforts to boost tourist arrivals by removing visa requirements for visitors from 47 countries, while also developing numerous destinations beyond Bali, the country's most popular island.

The ministry seeks to promote other destinations, which include Borobudur, a ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang, Central Java; Mandalika resort on the island of Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, which offers breathtaking scenery, including beaches and lush rolling hills; and Labuhan Bajo, a fishing village in East Nusa Tenggara that serves as the launching point for trips to the islands of Komodo and Rinca, home to the highly endangered Komodo dragons.

There are also the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java, which offers visitors a moonlike landscape consisting of an epic mountainous area and the Mount Bromo volcano; the Thousand Islands, a tourist destination situated just off the Jakarta coast, offering a beautiful chain of islands; and Toba Lake in North Sumatra, which offers breathtaking views of the archipelago's largest volcanic lake.

Other destinations also on the list this year include Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi, which offers marine biodiversity; the Tanjung Lesung resort in Banten, which is famous for beautiful views of clean white sand; Morotai on Maluku Island, which has beaches and forests; and Tanjung Kelayang in Bangka Belitung, which offers a unique panoramic view of its beaches.

"As the main priority, the tourism sector must be supported by infrastructure and transportation development in a bid to expedite the tourism target by 2019," Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said, as quoted by the ministry's official website.

He added that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is determined to see a greater contribution by the tourism sector to the country's gross domestic product in the next five years.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia increased significantly to 4.43 million between January and May this year, compared to the same time last year.

The top seven countries with the most tourists to visit Indonesia during this 2016 period are as follows:

1. Singapore

The BPS recorded more than 692,680 visitors from the city-state entering Indonesia through 19 major airports and ports between January and May this year, up 16.8 percent compared to the same period last year.

Singapore is also Indonesia's largest investor at $2.9 billion in the first quarter of this year.

2. China

The government seeks to attract 2.1 million Chinese tourists to Indonesia by the end of this year as the east Asian country has seen huge growth in the number of its citizens traveling abroad.

However, only 615,288 Chinese tourists visited Indonesia from January to May this year, representing an increase of 9.2 percent compared to the same period last year.

3. Malaysia

The number of Malaysian tourists to Indonesia amounted to 563,042 in this year's January-May period, up 3.46 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The two countries are seeking to renew a long-delayed border trade agreement in a bid to boost trade value between them, while also increasing economic activity in these areas.

4. Australia

A total of 471,967 Australians visited Indonesia during the January-May period, up 10.8 percent from the same period in a year ago.

Australia has also become one of Indonesia's main trading partners as the investment realization from Down Under amounted to $2,1 billion between 2010 and 2015. This is comprised of investment in the mining, chemical and infrastructure sectors, according to Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) data.

5. Japan

More than 136,666 Japanese citizens visited Indonesia between January and May, down 11 percent from the correspondent period last year.

Last year, Japanese investment in Indonesia amounted to $2.87 billion with a total of 2,030 projects, which provided employment to 115,400 people. It makes the country Indonesia's second-largest investor.

In the first quarter of this year, Japan invested $1.6 billion in Indonesia Japanese investment in Indonesia is spread out across several sectors, such as electronics, machinery, chemicals and pharmaceutical products.

6. India

The BPS recorded the arrival of only 36,882 Indian visitors between January and May, compared to 271,252 in the same period last year.

7. South Korea

The number of South Korean tourists arriving in Indonesia remained small at 33,845 in the January-May period, down 12 percent from the corresponding period last year.

However, the two countries signed an agreement to strengthen economic cooperation. South Korean investment in Indonesia was recorded at $1.2 billion in 2015, up 7.6 percent from a year earlier, which makes it Indonesia's sixth-largest foreign investor.

Honorable Mention

Countries that received honorable mention in the January-April period are Egypt, Bahrain, India, Britain and Germany, the tourism ministry said in a statement on its website.