Indonesia's Potential to Attract 14 Million Tourists

The Indonesian Tourism Industries Association (GIPI) said Indonesia has the potential to attract 14 million tourists in 2015.
"After studying the strategic plan for development of Indonesian tourism we have come to the conclusion that it is not impossible for Indonesia to draw 14 million foreign tourists in 2015," GIPI Chairman Didien Djunaedi said here on Thursday.
However, to tap the tourism potentials the government must pay more attention to the tourism sector, he said. "There must be a policy that facilitates the development of the tourism sector," he said.
The most important thing was that the government must give incentives to business players engaged in the tourism industry without burdening them with high taxes, he said. Security and infrastructure were also key to the success of luring more tourists.


The number of tourist arrivals in Indonesia hit a record high of more than 7 million last year. The government has set the target of tourist arrivals for 2011 at 7.7 million.
Over 598.1 thousand tourists visited Indonesia in March, up slightly by 0.64 percent from the same month last year, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said.
"Compared to February 2011, the number of tourist arrivals in March 2011 rose 5.28 percent," BPS Chief Rusman Heriawan said.