In a bid to boost the tourism industry in the province, the East Java administration has been preparing a number of programs to attract more foreign tourists to the region.

Djoni Irianto, head of the provincial tourism agency, said Fri-day the opening of the country's longest bridge, the Suramadu, which connects Java and Madura Islands, his office had been promoting the "Visit Madura Year 2009" campaign.

Held in cooperation with the province's tourism sector, the program is specially designed to draw tourists from Asia and Europe to the province.

"We're expecting 3,500 tourists from Malaysia, Brunei and Australia from Aug. 7 to 9," Djoni said.

He added they would visit the island after joining a cross-country program on Mount Welirang, Pasuruan.

Besides the Suramadu bridge and the well-known traditional buffalo race, karapan sapi, he went on, the renowned Madura traditional herbal medicine, jamu, had also been added as another tourist attraction.

Djoni said tour packages consisting of visits to other Madura tourist attractions, including jamu production centers and a batik center in Pamekasan had also been prepared for tourists visiting the island.

"The administration has also done something with the infrastructure, including renovating the karapan sapi stadium," he said.

"We have also invited investors to develop the exotic Labung Beach in Sumenep."

Previously, the tourism agency said the provincial administration would begin cooperating with one of China's richest cities, Xinjiang, to expand the tourism sector in the province.

The cooperation, Djoni said, had been agreed upon particularly because of the considerably high number of Chinese tourists visiting the region.

"We hope the cooperation will significantly increase the number of Chinese tourists visiting East Java," Djoni said, adding his office was striving to meet the target of getting 10 percent of the province's income from tourism.

Data from the agency shows more than 5,000 Chinese tourists visited East Java in 2007. This increased to nearly 9,000 in 2008, with the tourism agency expecting a rising trend over the next few years.

Chinese visitors are the most plentiful in the province, followed by Japanese visitors (6,000 in 2008) and Dutch visitors (3,000).

Djoni said the cultural similarities between Indonesia and China had made it easier for the provincial administration and tourism sector to attract Chinese tourists to the province.

He added the expected lifting of an EU flight ban on Indonesian airlines could potentially lead to an increase in the number of European visitors to the province.

Among the tourism sites being actively promoted by the provincial administration include the Bromo mountain range in Probolinggo; the beaches in Banyuwangi, Malang, Lamongan and Trenggalek; the traditional Reog dance from Ponorogo; the Osing tribal community in Banyuwangi, and the Tengger tribal community in Lumajang.

Researcher Janet Cochrane, from Leeds Metropolitan University's International Centre for Responsible Tourism, in the UK, said European tourists enjoyed visiting East Java mostly because of its potential to develop adventure tourism, due to its abundance of exotic natural scenery, as well as cultural and traditional arts.

"They enjoy village scenes that are completely different from those in Europe," said Cochrane, who has recently done research on the Mt. Bromo tourist site.

She added the most common complaints that many European tourists had were the lack of cleanliness at some of the tourist sites in East Java.

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