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Govt to promote Aceh, Jakarta as halal destinations
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A beach in Sabang Island, Aceh, in this undated file photo. (Indonesia.travel/File)
F
ive regions are set to be promoted as halal destinations to attract more tourists, namely Lombok, West Sumatra, Aceh, Jakarta and West Java.
The Tourism Ministry's halal tourism development acceleration team head, Riyanto Sofyan, said halal tourism was important to develop as it is a market with strong potential.
"We actually have [prepared] 10 halal destinations but for now the government will focus on five," he told Antara news agency in Jakarta on Friday. The other five destinations are South Sulawesi, East Java, Yogyakarta, Central Java and Batam.
(Read also: 12 Indonesian entities vie for World Halal Tourism Award)
Since 2014, the growth of Muslim tourists to Indonesia reportedly increased from around 8 to 10 percent to 15 percent currently, said Riyanto.
Despite being a Muslim-majority country, Riyanto said the country still needed to develop and increase its quality of halal tourism to become a halal tourist destination. "To become one, there are several factors that have to be considered by tourism players," he said, adding that halal branding was also important to attract Muslim travelers.
Based on data by independent, halal-friendly rating and accreditation standard CrescentRating, the number of Muslim tourists globally reached 117 million last year and is expected to increase to 168 million by 2025. (kes)
