INDONESIA HOPES TO LURE TWO MILLION CHINESE TOURISTS IN 2015 by Fardah

   Jakarta, Jan 25, 2015 (Antara)-  Almost one million Chinese tourists visited Indonesia last year, and for this year, Indonesia has set a target to double the number of Chinese visitors.

         China is currently the fourth largest tourism source country for Indonesia, by contributing a total of 883,725 Chinese tourists between January and November 2014. The first largest tourism source country is Singapore (1.32 million), followed by Malaysia (1.12 million), and Australia (996,032).

         "If our expectation in 2014 was to receive one million Chinese tourists, we are optimistic that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Indonesia will reach two million by the end of 2015," Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said recently.

         Minister Yahya made a Chinese tour on January 11-13, 2015, to promote Indonesian tourism, and held bilateral talks with the officials of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

         He and a CNTA representative signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to attract more Chinese tourists to Indonesia.

         With the MOU, Indonesia is determined to increase the number of Chinese tourists visiting the country to two million by late 2015.

         Indonesia's travel agents and operators, who were also part of the minister's entourage, met with the representatives of China's top five travel agents.       
    Based on the Indonesian tourism ministry's data, the average stay of a Chinese tourist in Indonesia lasts between four and five days, with his/her spending reaching up to US$100 to US$110 per day.

         The minister had flown to China by Garuda's inaugural flight on the Beijing-Denpasar route.

         He hailed Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia's decision to increase the number of routes as well as flight frequency to China, which has become a major tourism source market.

         CEO of the five-star airline, Arif Wibowo, said recently that Garuda Indonesia will focus its international flight services on China, considering the increasing number of Chinese travelers.

         More than 100 million Chinese tourists are estimated to visit other countries this year, an official of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) Zhang Jilin said recently.

         Wibowo pointed out that Garuda's flights to China showed a positive trend over the last decade, thanks to the large number of Chinese people traveling abroad.

         Garuda has flown to the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou for years, and early this year, it also began serving chartered flights to six other cities in China from the Indonesian resort island of Bali, he informed.

         "We chose Bali because eighty percent of tourists from China to Indonesia visit Bali," Wibowo explained.

         The CEO further noted that Garuda was expected to be able to fly more passengers from China to Indonesia this year. Occupancy rate can be increased from the 200 to 300 thousand recorded in previous years to 500 to 600 thousand in 2015.

         "China is on the list of the Indonesian tourism industry's main focus, in addition to Australia, Japan, Korea, and Russia," he revealed.      
    Bali has become one of the favorite destinations of Chinese tourists, according to a poll conducted by the Beijing People's Broadcasting in 2011.  
    Other favorite tourism destinations are Australia, Cape Town Edinburgh, Hawaii, Madrid, Egypt, Niaga Fall, Paris, and Switzerland.

         A well-known tourism marketing website in China, Ctrip, named Bali the best tourist destination at the Top 10 Best Tourist Destinations Network Selection and Award Ceremony.

         "During the event, Ctrip presented two awards to Bali---the Best Island Tourist Destination Award and the Best Overseas Tourism City Award. We hope these awards increase the number of tourists, particularly those from China, visiting Indonesia this year and in the years to come," Minister  Yahya said recently.

         Ctrip has a major influence in the Chinese tourism market because it dominates 55.9 percent of online tourism marketing in the country.

         Yahya further noted that his ministry will focus on promoting Indonesian tourism through online or digital networks. These efforts will include creating mobile applications, carrying out digital and interactive campaigns, and implementing viral marketing tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs.

         "As much as 70 percent of Chinese tourists get their information on Indonesia through the Internet. It is a challenge for the ministry to boost promotion strategies through digital media," Yahya remarked.

         The ministry will also focus on easing accessibility by introducing direct flights from cities in China to Indonesia, particularly to Bali, he affirmed.

         Around 330,172 Chinese tourists visited Bali during the initial seven months of 2014, an increase of 45.76 percent as compared to 226,494 visitors recorded in the previous year.

         "China is ranked second after Australia in the number of tourists visiting Bali," Head of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Bali Panusunan Siregar stated in September 2014.

         He explained that China has contributed 15.80 percent of the total number of tourists to Bali. The total number of Chinese tourists who traveled to Bali surpassed the number of travelers from Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia, except Australia.

         The Bali provincial government is optimistic that visa-free access to the citizens of five countries can increase the number of foreign visitors to Bali,  Head of the Bali Provincial Tourism Office Anak Agung Yuniarta said on Jan 22, 2015.

         Earlier, the government had provided visa-free facility to the citizens of China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and Australia. These countries were selected as they were the main markets for Indonesian tourism.

         The increase in the number of visa-free countries was needed to achieve the target of 20 million foreign visitors, or 450 thousand additional foreign tourists per year, by 2019.

         The number of foreign visitors to Bali rose 14.78 percent year-on-year to 3.41 million in the first 11 months of 2014, according to data made available by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

         An increase was recorded in the number of visitors from nine of the 10 main countries of origin. Visitors from Australia rose 18.7 percent to 895,069 from 754,049.

         The number of visitors from Australia constituted 26.18 percent of the total number of foreign visitors to Bali, followed by Chinese visitors totaling 539,371 or an increase of 49.28 percent, Malaysian visitors increasing 14.87 percent to 172,487 tourists, and Japanese tourists totaling 195,541 or an increase of 1.64 percent.

         Besides Bali, Batam, Riau Islands Province, is also interested in attracting Chinese tourists.  Chief of Batam Culture and Tourism Service Yusfa Hendri stated recently, that the island has several specific attractions that can draw tourists from China.

         The attractions include the Golden City Complex in Bengkong, a new tourism attraction themed "Cheng Ho Admiral" that provides an insight into the heroic journey of Cheng Ho, and a maritime tourism site on Bintan Island.

         At least 1,444,650 tourists visited the island, that shares maritime border with Singapore, during 2014, exceeding the set target of 1.4 million visitors.

         The Indonesian Government has planned to boost tourism promotion, provide visa-free facilities, and ease permits in a bid to attract more tourists in 2015, in order to help achieve US$12.05 billion in foreign exchange earnings from tourism by the end of this year.

         "We have targeted foreign exchange earnings worth US$12.05 billion from 10 million tourists expected to visit the country until late this year," Minister Yahya remarked recently. ***3***
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