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Indonesia promotes unique culture to attract Indian tourists
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Angklung orchestra: Thousands of students play angklung instruments at the Jungle theme park in Bogor, West Java. The angklung event, which involved students from elementary, junior and senior high schools, was organized to introduce the traditional musical instrument to tourists. (Antara/Jafkhairi )
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ndonesia will participate in an international cultural festival in the Indian capital of New Delhi from March 11 to 13 as part of efforts to attract more tourists from the country.
The Tourism Ministry’s Asia-Pacific promotions director Vinsensius Jemadu said on Tuesday that Indonesia targeted 350,000 Indian tourist arrivals this year. “We hope India will contribute significantly to tourist arrivals we have set at 12 million in 2016,” he said.
India is among 90 countries that are eligible for Indonesia’s free-visa facility.
Indonesia will be part of the World Culture Festival held by The Art of Living, an event that will feature cultural performances from 155 participating countries.
The Indonesian delegates will perform traditional Sundanese angklung music and dances. They will also open a booth to promote the country’s main tourist destinations and to woo investors to do business in the tourist sector.
Rub Gurbani from The Art of Living said the festival would be attended by 3.5 million Indians and would attract 100,000 foreign tourists. The festival takes place every five years. In 2011, it was held in Berlin.
Indian tourist arrivals to Indonesia increased 15 percent from 238,000 in 2014 to 270,000 in 2015, the ministry’s figures showed.
India is seen as a high-potential market in light of much shared culture. Aside from Bali, which is predominantly Hindu, Yogyakarta and Central Java – where traces of Indian culture abound – are popular destinations for Indian tourists. Bollywood movies are also favorites in Indonesia.
To support the promotion, Garuda will offer direct flights three times a week from Bali to Mumbai, starting from August. Currently, flights between Bali and Mumbai transit in Singapore. (sha/bbn)
