Indonesia Seeks Arab Tourists, Expects 20m Visitors By 2019

RIYADH: Indonesia is working on plans to attract more tourists from the Middle East, including the Kingdom, and has set itself the target of hosting 20 million visitors by 2019.
The figure was announced at a recent symposium on Indonesian tourism on Tuesday organized in Riyadh by the Embassy of Indonesia, in collaboration with their Ministry of Tourism, to attract Saudi tourists to the Southeast Asian country, popularly known as the world’s largest archipelago, a name which aptly represents its 17,000 islands.
Commenting on the plan, Ahrul Tsani Fathurrahman, head of Information and Socio-cultural Affairs at the Indonesian Embassy, said that “Indonesia is planning its biggest push ever for Middle Eastern tourists and visitors.”
“To this end, the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism, in association with the Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate in Jeddah, is gearing up to lure more international tourists from the Kingdom and other nearby countries by undertaking a new Indonesian Sales Mission program, which was officially launched in Riyadh on Nov. 16, and will be in Dammam on Nov. 18, and in Jeddah on Nov 20,” said Fathurrahman.
He added that these cities were chosen for the roll out of the program due to their prominence as the three biggest cities in the Kingdom, where it is hoped that more tourists can be drawn from.
“For us, undertaking the Sales Mission in the Kingdom is a strategic opportunity to reinforce Indonesia’s tourism position, and promote the country as a tourist destination as well as to attract investors in the tourism sector,” the Indonesian diplomat said.
He also noted that the Kingdom is the largest contributor to Indonesia’s tourist inflow from the Middle East, confirming that as per data from 2014, the number of Saudi visitors has increased by about 27 percent, totalling 147,074 visits compared to 115,912 visitors in 2013.
The increasing flow of tourists from the Kingdom can also be seen in 2015, as from January to September this year the number has already reached 129,297.
“In order to achieve our ambitious goal of 20 million visitors in total, Indonesia recently waived the visa requirements for 90 countries including the Kingdom and other GCC countries,” he said.
The diplomat went on to explain that Indonesia’s position in terms of international tourism is becoming even more established over time; in May 2015, it was announced by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for Travel and the Tourism Competitiveness Index of 2015 that Indonesia has increased its ‘establishment’ ranking to become 50th among 141 countries evaluated.
Moreover, at the recent “World Halal Travel Summit and Exhibition” in Abu Dhabi, Lombok, which is located in the West Nusa Tenggara Province next to the island of Bali, successfully outranked many other destinations from across the globe and won two awards as the World’s Best Halal Tourism Destination and the World’s Best Halal Honeymoon Destination.
Fathurrahman maintained that Lombok, with its natural green scenery, beautiful beaches and Islam-friendly community, will emerge as a much-loved destination among Middle Eastern tourists, especially the Saudis, as the island is surrounded by thousands of mosques and offers products which are Shariah-compliant.
Notably, Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population in the world.