"In the January-June 2018 period, 1.4 million Malaysians visited Indonesia. Hopefully, the number will increase to 2,670,000 at the end of this year," deputy assistant of marketing development at the Indonesian Tourism Ministry, Sumarni said on the sidelines of Malaysia Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Fair on Sunday.
MATTA Fair is an annual event, she said adding MATTA Fair this time is the biggest ever held.
"The Tourism Ministry brings 30 travel agents and 10 accommodations to sell Indonesian (tourism) packages and establish partnership with Malaysian agents," she said.
Through this forum, more and more Malaysian tourists are expected to buy tourism packages from Indonesia, she said.
"This time we bring themes related to Borobudur Temple and Lake Toba. Today Malindo Air has served direct flight from Subang to Silangit so more and more Malaysian tourists will hopefully visit Lake Toba," she said.
Through MATTA Fair, Malaysians will hopefully be informed of the direct flight from Subang to Silangit.
Malaysia ranked third after China and Singapore in terms of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia last year, she said.
"Hopefully, Malaysia will rank first in 2018," she said.
She said West Java, Yogyakarta and Jakarta are favorite tourist destinations for Malaysian tourists.
"Actually, Lombok Island is also a favorite tourist destination for Malaysian tourists. But because of the recent earthquakes their number has declined accordingly," she said.
Reporting by Agus Setiawan
Editing by Suharto
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
