TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - TEMPO.CO, Shanghai – AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandez said the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia could reach up to 40 millions.

“Indonesia has many interesting places. Besides Bali, there are Yogyakarta, Lombok and Manado. If President Joko Widodo targets 10-20 million foreign tourists, I’m optimistic that the figure can reach 40 million,” said Tony on Wednesday.

Tony said he already met President Joko Widodo to discuss multiple things, including tourism.

He said many tourists, especially from China, Japan and South Korea were only familiar with Bali. “There are still many great places in Indonesia. That’s why, low-cost carrier with wide international network can introduce Indonesia as an appealing and worth-vising tourist destination,” said Tony.

Moreover, Tony said the Indonesian government had exempted China and Japan from visa requirements. “China is the country with the largest number of travelers to Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. This can be improved further,” he said.

Tony said AirAsia had expanded to 34 cities in China, which had a great deal of tourist potential for Indonesia. The same goes for South Korea and Japan.

He added Indonesia also had busy air traffic, which spelled wider opportunities to open up new tourist destinations. A total of 107 million trips are recorded across the world annually.

However, of all the tourists from China who travel overseas, only 959,000 tourists among them come to Indonesia per year. In 2015, the number is expected to increase to two million.

ANTARA