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Minister discusses Indonesian tourism in WTTC Global Summit
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Tourism Minister Arief Yahya speaks to journalists after the launching ceremony of Hotel Indonesia Group (HIG) in Jakarta on Sept. 29. (JP/Anton Hermansyah)
T
ourism Minister Arief Yahya is one of the guests at this year’s World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit held in Bangkok, Thailand, from April 26 to 27.
Speaking at the ministerial dialogue in front of travel and tourism chief executives, Arief discussed how President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has turned the tourism industry as one of the country’s leading sectors and is very supportive of tourism development in 10 "New Bali" destinations.
Read also: Ministry wants travel agencies to create 'New Bali' package tours
“Infrastructure development at three destinations from the prioritized tourism list, namely Lake Toba, Borobudur Temple and Mandalika, is being supported financially by the World Bank,” Arief said.
The government also implemented a free-visa policy to make it easier for foreign tourists to visit Indonesia.
“We currently have 169 countries in our free-visa list […] In the first year after the implementation of the policy, the number of foreign tourists increased up to 20 percent,” Arief added.
These efforts are part of the ministry’s goal to double the number of tourist arrivals from 9.3 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2019. (kes)
