The "Wonderful Indonesia" advertisement of the Tourism Ministry is put up in a number of public passenger buses in Moscow and St St.Petersburg.
Wahid said the number of Russian tourists visiting Indonesia is predicted to grow 26 percent this year thanks to the advertisement.
"After twice holding Festival of Indonesia here , the number of Russian tourist arrivals in Indonesia grow rapidly with a growth of 22.5 percent to 80,514 in 2016 and to 110,529 arrivals or a growth of 37 percent in 2017," he said, adding it was the highest growth among foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia that year.
This year, with Indonesian Festival to be held again in August 3-5 with digital ads by the Tourism Minist5ry, the number of Russian tourists arrivals in Indonesia is expected to rise 26 percent to 150,000, he said on Wednesday.
The ambassador said if the UTair airline starts as planned direct flights between Moscow and Denpasar of Bali in October this year, the target could be easily reached.
Meanwhile, the embassy`s first secretary Enjay Diana said the advertisement Wonderful Indonesia in Russia is expected to better introduce Indonesia in Russia.
"Russians generally like to travel holidaying in tropical countries and Indonesia has many favorite places for holidaying for Russians," Enjay said.
The Wonderful Indonesia advertisement displays tourists destinations including Bali, the Borobudur Temple in Central Java, Raja Ampat, ancient dragon Comodo , Lake Tobaand the Asian Games 2018.
"Wonderful Indonesia" advertisement is also seen in the sweaters worn by Indonesians watching the World Cup now underway in Russia.
Wonderful Indonesia has also been advertised in a number of other countries in a bid to draw more foreign tourists to the country.
Indonesia has been more aggressive in advertising its tourism wealth abroad and has succeeded in recording a strong growth in number of foreign tourists from . The Tourism Ministry has been given a target to draw at least 20 million foreign tourists to the country in 2019.
The number of tourist arrivals grew from 10.4 million in 2015 to 14.04 million in 2017. The number of arrivals fell short of the target of 15 million in 2017 as a result of the eruption of Mount Agung in Bali, the country`s main tourist destination .
Tourism in Indonesia has been an important component of the the country`s economy as well as a significant source of its foreign exchange revenues. The vast country of sprawling archipelago has much to offer, from natural beauty, historical heritage to cultural diversity.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the direct contribution of travel and tourism to Indonesia`s GDP in 2014 was US$26,162 million constituting 3.2% of the total GDP. By 2019, the Indonesian government wants to have doubled this figure to 8 percent of GDP with the number of tourist arrivals expected to reach 20 million. The tourism sector ranked as the 4th largest among goods and services export sectors.
Reporter: Triono Subagyo
Editor: Otniel Tamindael
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