Govt Develops 10 Tourist Sites to Boost Tourism

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government focuses on developing 10 of 222 tourism locations that are the national tourism development zones (KPPN) to boost the number of foreign tourists to 20 millions per year in 2019.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli on Monday, after a meeting for tourism infrastructure development coordination in Jakarta, said the 10 locations are the main focus because they have the largest potential to boost the number of tourists.

“We decided to focus on 10 locations with the most potential in boosting the number of tourists,” he said.

The 10 locations are Toba Lake (North Sumatera, Thousand Islands (Jakarta), Bromo (East Java), Labuan Bajo (East Nusa Tenggara), Mandalika (West Nusa Tenggara), Morotai (Maluku), Yogyakarta, Wakatobi (Southeast Sulawesi), Belitung (Bangka Belitung) and Tanjung Laesung (Banten).

In order to develop those locations, Rizal said there needs to be certain budget from the Transportation Ministry and the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry.

Rizal added that the meeting agreed on the budget draft for the development of the 10 tourism locations.

Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said for tourism development, his ministry focuses on building roads, and providing drinking water.

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said the 10 tourism locations are determined in accordance with development priority scale from the Transportation Ministry and the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry.

“We will develop all tourist locations, but we still have to make priorities in terms of time. This year is the first 10 locations, which means there will be the second 10 locations and so on,” he said.

ANTARA