TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya is targeting to have seven million foreign tourists visiting Bali in 2018. His target was set despite the ongoing volcanic activities of Mount Agung.
According to Arief, the ministry is not lowering the foreigners' arrival target for Bali, especially because the visits are lower compared to other countries'. For example, foreign tourists visiting Malaysia reached 25 million people while Thailand had 32 million tourist arrivals this year. Bangkok alone recorded the visits of 18 million foreigners.
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"Bangkok has defeated Bali, despite the fact that it's just a city, while Bali is an entire island," Arief said on Monday, December 18.
Meanwhile, this year's foreign tourist visits target to Bali is likely unachieved. The government had set a goal of 6 million visits. As of October, 5 million tourists had visited Bali, but the volcanic activities of Mount Agung had slowed down the rate of arrivals.
To reach the target, the Ministry of Tourism is earmarking Rp100 billion to promote Bali massively following the activities of Mount Agung.
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