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Western Australia lures Indonesian tourists with truffles, wildflower festival

A total of 32,700 Indonesians visited Western Australia last year, which marks year-on-year growth of 9.5 percent.

Keshie Hernitaningtyas (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, July 12, 2019

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Western Australia lures Indonesian tourists with truffles, wildflower festival A panoramic view of the cliff coast and Cable Beach can be seen at Torndirrup National Park, Albany, Western Australia. (Shutterstock/Rob Bayer)

Western Australia (WA) is seeking to attract more Indonesian tourists to visit the region this year.

Tourism Western Australia partnerships director Andrew Oldfield told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that it had prepared a bigger budget for Indonesia this year in order to increase the number of tourists from the archipelago.

A total of 32,700 Indonesians visited WA last year, which marks year-on-year growth of 9.5 percent.

The United Kingdom, China, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia are among the Australian state's top-five biggest foreign tourist contributors, according to Oldfield. Meanwhile Indonesia is currently ranked at number eight.

Read also: Traveling 'dalang' brings 'wayang kulit' to life at schools Down Under

"We're trying to add more flights from Indonesia. We currently only have a direct flight with Garuda Indonesia from Jakarta; previously five days a week, but now decreased to four days a week -- we're trying to find out why," said Oldfield. "We also have great support from Batik Air and Malindo Air via Denpasar [in Bali] but can feed in other parts of Indonesia."

He added that Indonesia also served as one of WA's main markets for Muslim travelers besides India and Malaysia, hence it has prepared a special guide on Muslim-friendly services and facilities such as halal restaurants and mosques.

During a media gathering event on Wednesday, the tourism board highlighted new hotels, restaurants and festivals as WA's worth-seeing attractions in addition to its natural landscape.

"Perth has significantly transformed in the past few years with the availability of various new hotels, public areas, restaurants and bars, cultural attractions and a series of interesting events. Meanwhile outside of Perth, travelers can marvel at tall forest trees, beautiful coastline, unique rock formations and wildlife interactions," said Oldfield in a statement. 

As a culinary destination, WA boasts Margaret River and Swan Valley as the homes of must-try chocolate, honey, coffee and wine; Fremantle as a seafood haven; and Manjimup and Pemberton as truffle paradises. The region regularly also hosts many culinary events that attract around 400,000 gourmet travelers every year, such as the Western Australia Gourmet Escape scheduled from Nov. 8 to 17 in Swan Valley, Perth and Margaret River. 

Home to more than 12,000 species of wildflowers, WA will soon hold the Kings Park Festival, which has been an annual tradition for 56 years. Throughout the month of September, the event invites visitors to enjoy the spring season's wildflowers at Kings Park and the Botanic Garden in Perth and participate in various activities such as outdoor and photography exhibitions, a sightseeing session and wellness program.

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