Minister: Indonesian Tourism to Surpass Malaysia-Thailand`s
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Kamis, 1 Januari 1970 07:00 WIB
Tourists visit a tourism destination Monkey Forest in Ubud, Bali. In the first period (January-July) of 2014 the number of tourist arrivals in Indonesia increased some 9.56 percent to 5,328,732 million from 4,872,262 million visitors in the same period last year. Agung Parameswara/Getty Images
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta -Tourism Minister Arief Yahya believes that Indonesian tourism could beat Malaysia and Thailand within the next four years.
“I believe it could surpass Malaysia in two years, as Malaysia currently earns $20 billion from foreign exchange, meanwhile Thailand currently earns $42 billion,” Arief said in a Tourism Coordinating Meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, October 29.
If Indonesian tourism can earn equal income as Thailand, then it will surpass incomes from oil and gas in Indonesia which is currently at $32 billion. Arief said Indonesia aims to reach $12 billion next year.
Arranging stories in each area in Indonesia can be one of the ways to create a local tourism destination, so foreign tourist can acknowledge interesting facts about the destination. “We will invite national and international writers to write various stories on tourism sites, such as myths or lengends from a certain region, said Arief.
