Among the participants are yachters from Lithuania, the United States, Germany, the Philippines, Australia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France and New Zealand, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya announced on Monday, as reported by tempo.co.

(Read also: Global travel spending still growing but at a slower pace)

“Lembata regency is a favorite destination among yachters from all around the world. Yacht traffic to this place keeps on increasing,” he said.

According to Arief, 2.8 million travelers visited NTT last year, and around 5,000 tourists visited Lembata regency. Around 1,000 of the tourists who visited Lembata were international yachters.

“East Nusa Tenggara province has strong natural, cultural and manmade attractions. Among the attractions are Komodo Island as a world class destination and the whale hunting tradition in Lamalera, Lembata regency,” Arief explained.

(Read also: Govt to allow yacht, private jet visits to boost tourism)

The subtheme of the event, “Dari Lembata Nusa Tenggara Timur Membangun Potensi Maritim Nusantara” (building archipelagic maritime potential from Lembata, East Nusa Tenggara), will also be used to promote the island’s tourism.

Aside from Lembata regency, the government is also trying to promote Labuan Bajo, part of NTT that has been selected as one of the country's 10 new tourist destinations. The government has set a goal of 20 million foreign and 270 million domestic tourist arrivals to the locations in 2019. (asw)

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