Indonesia targets to attract middle east's tourist

Therefore, the 10 Halal tourism destinations are also being offered to non-Muslim tourists. The Indonesian Tourism Ministry has designated at least 10 provinces as Halal tourist destination regions, which comprise six provinces or special regions in Java (Banten, Jakarta, West Java, and Central Java, in addition to Yogyakarta and East Java), two in Sumatra (West Sumatra and Aceh), one in Kalimantan (South Kalimantan), and one in Nusa Tenggara (West Nusa Tenggara or NTB).

While developing Halal tourism destinations, Indonesia is also increasing its promotional activities in the Middle East, including by participating in various travel expositions. On April 25-28, 2016, for instance, Indonesia will take part in the "Arabian Travel Mart" in Dubai.

Besides promoting its tourism destinations in the Middle East, Indonesia has also set its sights on luring tourists from China. It is even offering an opportunity to Chinese businesses to invest in tourism destinations in Indonesia.

The assistant deputy for Asia Pacific market development of the Ministry of Tourism, Vinsensius Jemadu, had earlier said Indonesia has selected China to intensively market its diving tourism as a large number of Chinese tourists can potentially visit the country.

Indonesia would continue to promote diving tourism in China, he said last month. "We have already sent a diving tourism sale mission to Chongqing, which is one of the four municipalities under the direct control of the central government in China," he said.

Indonesia is making its efforts not only to attract Chinese tourists but also lure investors from that country. Tourism Minister Arief Yahya has offered three tourism destination investment opportunities to Chinese investors wishing to invest in tourism business in Indonesia.

Minister Arief Yahya was on a visit to the Chinese province of Anhui to meet the local government officials to offer investment opportunities in North Bali, Bintan Island in Riau Islands province near Singapore, and Manado, the provincial capital of North Sulawesi, in Indonesia.

"Investment will be needed in infrastructure such as a toll road and an airport, especially in Bali. Possibly, there will be investors from Anhui who want to invest in these," the minister said. (Andi Abdussalam)