US Wants To Attract More Tourists From Indonesia

Jakarta, Dec 12 (ANTARA) - The United States government is making efforts to attract more Indonesian visitors to its popular tourist destinations such as Hawaii, Los Angeles, and New York, according to US Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel. "We have seen an increase in the number of Indonesians visiting the United States for business and educational purposes, but now the US Embassy will introduce a new initiative that will encourage Indonesian tourists to visit our country," he said at his private residence here on Tuesday night. Under the new initiative, Marciel noted, Indonesians tourists can get US visas without giving an interview. He said it was part of the US government`s efforts to promote the nation`s tourism industry, as per President Barack Obama`s instructions early this year. Meanwhile, US Consul General Thurmon H. Borden said there were more than 50,000 visa applications from Indonesia last year. "Out of those, 39,000 were for business and tourism, while 12,000 were for educational purposes," he noted. He added that without the interview, the US visa application process today will take only two or three days. "This is one of the outcomes of the RI-US Comprehensive Partnership, declared by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the US President during Obama`s historic visit to Jakarta in November 2010," he explained.