Batam is popular among Singaporean tourists, especially on weekends. Government data show that local restaurants, gift shops and hotels in the city see a surge in demand for their services and products.
According to the ministry, Batam has more than 30,000 hotel rooms, which were reportedly fully booked for the May Day weekend.
"Our hotels are fully booked until May 1. This is a huge blessing for us," Golden View Hotel secretary Rossy Tobing said, as quoted in the ministry's statement.
"The Singaporean tourists not only paid taxes at restaurants and hotels, but also spent money shopping and contributing to local charities," said Sulaiman Shehdek, a Visit Indonesia officer in Singapore.
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said in the statement that coordination and planning for the festival, which required a lot of time and preparations, yielded positive results.
"This was very well done. The execution has been smooth, without any obstacles. Everyone is pleased with the turnout at Wonderful Indonesia Music Festival Cross-border Batam," Arief said.
He added that cross-border tourism has a great market potential, though it depends solely on how each city or region prepares to receive and attract tourists from neighboring countries.
"With more tourists coming, the regions will develop further, which in turn will draw prosperity to local communities," Arief said. (JakartaGlobe)
No comments:
Post a Comment
your comments are now being moderated