f8bc126e49161622b44b03.jpg (Photo : Xinhua)
After the Indonesian government recorded high numbers of Chinese tourists visiting the archipelago last year, Indonesia's Minister of Tourism, Arief Yahya, has told Chinese reporters that his country will "reach the goal of 2 million Chinese visitors by the end of 2015."
Yahya was visiting the Chinese capital city of Beijing when he made the comments on Monday.
China, identified as the source of the world's largest tourism market in mid-2014, has historically served the Indonesian economy well, as it was the Southeast Asian nation's fourth-largest overseas market last year.
At the start of June 2014, Indonesian tourism data showed that 11 percent of foreign tourists in the first third of 2014 originated from China, representing an increase of 30.42 percent year-on-year. The total number of Chinese visitors to Indonesia between Jan. and Nov. 2014 was tallied as 883,752.
Further information and analysis regarding the June 2014 figures were shared by then-Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, who said that, at the time, "China outpaced Japanese tourists two years ago and now they've outpaced Australia." A rise in the number of direct flights to Indonesia by Chinese airlines, such as Southern China Air, was cited as an underpinning factor.
However, the China Tourism Academy reported in 2014 that Chinese tourists said that the infrastructure issues in Indonesia led to it being labeled one of the most unsatisfying travel destinations. The destination was ranked 20 out of 22 by the Chinese, just above the most unsatisfying nation of all, Vietnam.
On Monday, Yahya said that, in addition to the visa exemption for nationals of China, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Russia that started this month, the Indonesian government will "launch a series of tourism campaigns to bolster the growth" in 2015.
The island of Bali has been identified as a key attraction, with the provincial administration expecting to attract 4 million foreign tourists over the course of 2015. Last year, 539,252 Chinese travelers visited Bali between January and November.
