Target of 7 million of foreign tourist arrivals likely to be achieved

The government has been optimistic to achieve its target of seven million of foreign tourist arrivals this year in line with the rising trend in tourist visits.

“Based on the growth rate in the foreign tourist arrivals until August 2010, the target of seven million can be achieved,” Director General of Marketing at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Sapta Nirwandar said in Lombok Barat regency, West Nusa Tenggara, on Thursday as quoted by Antara.

Sapta made the remarks during a visit to the Indonesian tourism mart expo at Senggigi tourist resort which was covered by journalists from dozens of foreign media companies, among others, from Australia, Italy, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Brunei.

Sapta said that as of last August the number of foreign tourist arrivals to various tourist destinations in throughout Indonesia recorded a significant increase to 4.62 million. By comparison the number of arrivals reached only 4.12 million the corresponding period last year, he said.