RI TOURISM INDUSTRY GROWS 1.69 PERCENT

Jakarta, July 3 (ANTARA) - Indonesia's tourism industry grew around 1.69 percent from January to May, 2009 with foreign tourist arrivals reaching 2.4 million, up 40,098 from the same period last year.

"The global economic crisis has not affected our tourism very much particularly tourist arrivals," the director general of marketing of the ministry of culture and tourism, Sapta Nirwandar said here on Friday.

He said the first quarter growth gave optimism that the target for the Visit Indonesia Year 2009 of 6.5 million foreign tourist arrivals would be achieved.

To meet the target various strategic and promotion efforts have been intensified including sending sales missions, offering cheap tourist packages and increasing promotion through print and electronic media and of farm trips.

"We must be grateful that Indonesia's tourism industry in the midst of current global crisis could still grow as expected," he said.

He said the number of tourists from Australia in the first five months reached 165,137, up 26.25 percent.

The number of tourists from other countries namely from the Middle East rose around 42.04 percent, Europe 10.23 percent and China 18.96 percent.

He said tourist arrivals from other Asian countries in the period such as Singapore were recorded minus 6.72 percent, Japan minus 13.80 percent and South Korea minus 27.28 percent.

"So tourism industry in most Asian countries has been hit," he said.

In view of the crisis the country's tourism industry now relies much on domestic tourists. In 2008, 225 million people in the country conducted travelling, he said.

Efforts have continuously been made to encourage domestic tourists to conduct travels through among others increased promotion events.

In 2008, local tourists conducted 1.92 times of travelling in average spending Rp123.1 trillion.