Indonesia Expects to Gain $7.8b From Tourism in 2010

Indonesia expects $7.8 billion in foreign exchange revenue from the tourism sector next year, or only a slight gain over the 2008 total, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Thursday.

During 2008, Indonesia managed to draw 6.4 million foreign tourists to the country and gained $7.5 billion in foreign exchange revenue from the sector.

However, in 2009 Indonesia lowered its target for foreign tourist arrivals because of the global economic downturn. The government now expects 6.5 million foreign tourists, down from 7 million in earlier forecasts, tourism minister Jero Wacik said in July.

The government has not publicly announced a revenue target for tourism in 2009.

The tourism industry’s image may have been dented somewhat due to the July 17 hotel bombings, which caused world-famous English football club Manchester United to cancel its visit the country.