T

he Indonesian Tourism Board (BPPI) will open promotion and marketing representative offices abroad to help achieve the government's target of 9 million tourist arrivals during the course of the last semester this year.

The offices, called Rumah Indonesia, or Indonesian Homes, will be opened in Sydney, Australia; Beijing, China; Taipei, Taiwan; and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, according to BPPI chairwoman Wiryanti Sukamdani.

'By having representatives abroad, we want to increase foreigners' awareness about Indonesia because most of them are only familiar with Bali, while we have many other interesting destinations across the archipelago ranging from culinary paradise to marine tourism,' Wiryanti said on Thursday.

'We believe that we will better promote our country when we are able to market our products directly to the consumers.'

She said that they would collaborate with Indonesian entrepreneurs or restaurateurs abroad to help market Indonesian destinations to foreigners.

The first Rumah Indonesia would be set up in Taiwan in the next few months, with other offices in other countries to follow suit.

The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry and regional administrations' tourism agencies traditionally promote the tourism industry separately.

Critics say poor infrastructure has always been a major hurdle in the government's efforts to promote the countless tourist destinations.

The country attracted 8.04 million foreign tourists last year, a 10 percent rise from 7.65 million in 2011, while targeting to book 9 million tourist arrivals this year.

The tourism board was set up at the end of 2011 under a presidential decree to help promote Indonesia to the world and spur tourism and creative industry businesses.

The board received Rp 15 billion (US$1.53 million) from this year's state budget for its promotional activities that focus on the low-season, green tourism and creative tourism programs. The board is allowed to raise more capital from private businesses due to limited state budget.

Apart from the Rumah Indonesia program, Wiryanti said the board would fly sales missions to Shenzen, China; New Delhi, India; and Ankara, Turkey in the next semester to go after Asia's emerging markets.

'We're aiming for more markets [...] to support the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry's sales missions to the Middle East and Asia,' she said.

For the Chinese market, she said the board helped the ministry, which has already been to Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai for direct promotion, access Shenzen, as the government is aiming to bring in 1 million Chinese tourists by the end of the year.

According to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data, the number of foreign arrivals stood at 1.9 million in the first quarter of this year, a 7 percent increase from 1.78 million in the same period last year.

The number of tourists coming from China and India grew by 9 percent and almost 18 percent, respectively, during the first quarter this year compared to the same period in 2012.

Wiryanti said the board had 20 promotional activities this year to increase both the numbers of foreign and domestic travelers.

Among the activities are the Indonesia Tourism and Creative Economy Fair (ITCEF) in Jakarta from Aug. 27 to 30.

The event, which will take place at Jakarta Convention Center and Senayan East Park ' both in the Senayan sports complex ' is expected to see more than 600 participating exhibitors and attract more than 30,000 visitors.