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aster visa processing is expected to significantly increase the number of Indonesian tourists traveling to France.

“Some 100,000 Indonesian tourists visited France in 2015 and the number is expected to jump to about 150,000 in 2017,” said Morad Tayebi, ASEAN regional director of Atout France, the French tourism development agency in the region.

“The Indonesian market is booming and doing well, much better than the rest of ASEAN.”

From 2017, Indonesia is expected to be the biggest ASEAN market for France, he added.

Morad was speaking during a promotional campaign called Douce France (Sweet France), for which representatives from Atout France and various French tourism businesses are visiting Jakarta, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

He attributed the jump in Indonesians visiting France to faster visa processing.

“Now it takes some 48 hours and we expect it to become even faster, about 24 hours, in the next two years,” he said.

France greeted 84.5 million tourists in 2015 with ASEAN countries sending some 600,000 people. It is expected that 100 million tourists will visit France annually by 2020.

ASEAN was a strong player despite reduced numbers of visitors from Singapore and Malaysia.

Singapore sent 120,000 tourists in 2015, 15 percent lower than the previous year, while Malaysia sent 150,000 visitors, a decrease of 10 percent. Meanwhile, Thailand saw a 3 percent increase to 120,000 tourists in 2015.

Morad admitted that the lack of direct flights between the countries inhibited higher growth.

“But the French authorities are in talks with Garuda to open a direct flight,” he said.

“A direct flight would be beneficial to both countries as it would allow people movement in both directions.”

Separately, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia spokesman Benny S. Butarbutar told The Jakarta Post that the airline had received many requests to open a route to France.

“France is already in Garuda’s long-term planning,” he said. “We are still studying all the details such as technical and financial aspects.”

Atout France estimated that ASEAN could overtake Japan in 2017 as the second-largest Asian market for French tourism after China.

When asked about security, amid news reports of tourists being robbed on the street, Morad said visitors must also do their part.

“Don’t bring too much cash. It is much easier to bring your credit cards. If something happens, you can always cancel your credit cards,” he said.

Among the road show participants was Juliana Gan, Southeast Asia representative for RailEurope, which sells passes and point-to-point tickets for train travel around Europe.

“We are a distribution channel for various European railway operators such as SNCF, Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn,” she said.

“Nowadays more and more tour operators offer and include train journeys in their packages,” she added.

“This can provide different views rather than taking the road by bus.”

Meanwhile, CEO of MGTC destination management company, Mohita Gupta Tessier, said that Indonesian tourists, especially Muslims or those with special dietary requirements, could visit France without worrying about dining.

“We are cooperating with a number of restaurants all over France to cater to specialized dietary needs,” she told the Post.

“For Muslims, there are plenty of choices such as eggs, seafood and vegetables.”

As for chicken, she said most of the poultry was not slaughtered according to halal requirements.

“If the group is quite large, at least 20 people, we can ask the restaurant to make a special dish,” said Mohita.

“And if the group is much larger, we can have the entire buffet according to the dietary requirements.”