ndonesia highlighted earthquake recovery efforts in Lombok by showcasing places to visit on the island at ITB-Asia’s Muslim Travel Pavilion.
During the event, held recently in Singapore, Indonesia showcased Lombok’s position as the country’s top halal travel destination.
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said Indonesia was prepared to greet tourists, especially Muslim tourists, with better infrastructure and ecosystem.
“Halal tourism will continue to grow in Indonesia. All destinations have met the requirements for halal tourism to grow exponentially,” said Arief in a press release on Thursday.
ITB-Asia’s Muslim Travel Pavilion hosted a panel discussion on halal travel and offered participants a variety of country showcases.
Riyanto Sofyan, chairman of the ministry’s team for accelerated development of halal tourism, said the government wanted to inform the world that “Lombok is back” with many events scheduled for October and beyond.
“For Muslim tourists from the Southeast Asia region, including Singapore, sightseeing, shopping, cultural tourism, visits to Islamic heritage sites and ecotourism are preferred excursions in Lombok. Southeast Asia tourists also appreciate Aceh, Jakarta, West Java, West Nusa Tenggara and West Sumatra,” he added.
Lombok was named the Best Halal Tourist Destination and the World’s Best Halal Honeymoon Destination in 2015.
Indonesia aims to attract 5 million Muslim visitors by 2019. Meanwhile, the global Muslim market spending on travel reached an estimated $169 billion in 2016, representing 11.8 percent of global travel expenditure. (bbn)
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