Tourism promotion now focused on Asia

Overseas Promotion Director of the Tourism and Culture Ministry I Gede Pitana said that tourism promotion is now more focused on the Asian market.

"The effort is to change the paradigm that tourism promotion has been focused on Europe and America," Pitana said on the sidelines of the 16th meeting of the Asia-Pacific Education and Training Institutes in Tourism (APETIT) here Thursday.

Pitana said that the market in Asia was very potential and he pointed to Singapore which was projected to have 1.8 million visitors until the end of 2008 and up to now had 1.3 million tourists.

"In Singapore the tourists including 600 expatriates, locals and visitors, will have a call at that country," he said.

However, the promotion still has to be done in the middle of the financial crisis to tourist destinations such as Europe, the Middle East and America.