PRESIDENT ON WORKING VISIT TO NTB

Mataram, July 6 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to arrive here for a one-day working visit in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) on Monday.

Accompanied by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, the president will arrive at Selaparang airport here at 10.45 a.m. local time on Monday .

From the airport, the head of state will directly head to Santoso Villas & Resort in Senggigi, West Lombok, to dedicate "Visit Lombok Sumbawa 2012".

The program will start at 11 a.m. and later , the president and his entourage will return to Jakarta and arrive at Halim Perdanakusuma airport at 4 p.m.

"Visit Lombok Sumbawa 2012" is expected to attract one million domestic and foreign tourists to two island resorts in West Nusa Tenggara by 2012.

The number of tourists to Sumbawa and Lobok islands continues to increase every year.

In 2008, more than 500,000 tourists, mostly foreigners, visited the two islands.

To support tourist infrastructure facilities in the province, the NTB provincial administration has established cooperation with Emaar, an investor from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the building of a Rp15 trillion mega project at Mandalika Beach.

With the two island resorts Lombok and Sumbawa, NTB wants to be an alternative tourist resort besides from Bali.

Lombok tourism becomes one of the major sources of income in the province after agriculture.

With its easy accessibility, this island can be reached by air from major cities in Indonesia and by sea or land from Bali and Sumbawa Island.

The development of Lombok Tourism has covered several tourist areas such as Senggigi Beach, Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, Gili Air and Kute Beach.

Lombok is the neighbor of Bali but it differs in many ways in terms of culture, geography and language as well as its tourist development.

With the international airport that is being built in the south of the island, there is no doubt that the familiarity of Lombok's connection with tourism will increase.

Some of the most interesting spots in Lombok one should not miss include the fantastic markets offering some beautiful fabrics and pottery across the island.