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Ministry optimistic about meeting 17 million foreign tourists target
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Besakih Temple in Karangasem regency, Bali. The island is one of the main entry points in Indonesia, which is aiming for 17 million foreign tourists in 2018. (Shutterstock/File)
T
he Tourism Ministry is optimistic the target of attracting 17 million foreign tourists by 2018 and 20 million by 2019 can be achieved.
Achieving 17 million foreign tourists by 2018 would mean a 21 percent rise from last year’s figure.
Guntur Sakti, head of the ministry’s public communications bureau, told kompas.com in Batam, Riau Islands, that to achieve this year’s target, the ministry would need special marketing strategies. “Tourism Minister Arief Yahya has stated this quite often, that extraordinary outcomes cannot be achieved with ordinary efforts,” he added.
Such efforts include three marketing programs as the result of the second Tourism National Coordinating Meeting in July. They involve all tourism stakeholders, namely businesspeople, the government, the community, academics and the media, often referred as the Penta helix model.
Read also: Bali & Beyond Travel Fair 2018 explores tourism potential
The first effort is an incentive program for airlines and wholesalers. “The ministry has signed collaborations with 15 airlines and eight wholesalers. It is forecast it will bring in some 730,000 foreign tourists from August till December,” said Guntur. “The collaboration means integrated promotions that include trade shows, festivals, familiarization trips and publications.”
Second, the Visit Wonderful Indonesia – Hot Deals programs will be utilized to optimize idle capacity. “The ‘three As’ [attraction, accessibility and amenity] of tourist destinations can be combined in a platform to provide affordable and easy tourism services,” Guntur said.
The Hot Deals programs are carried out through three main entry points, which are Bali, Jakarta and Riau Islands.
The third is the Competing Destination Model (CDM) program, which acts as a customer-acquisition strategy by performing data-driven marketing activities. “Currently the ministry is working with a CDM-method provider to achieve the extra target of 1 million foreign tourists,” Guntur said. (wng)
