"Especially, we receive support from the government policies. ASEAN tourists can enter Indonesia without visa," he said on Sunday.
Tourists only need to bring their valid passports to visit Indonesia within a few days and then return to their countries, he explained.
"It is very easy to visit Indonesia. They do not need to have a visa," he remarked.
Mawardi also said that in line with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy's programs, countries in the Asian region which include those of ASEAN would still become the target of tourist visits to Indonesia.
"ASEAN remains the biggest contributor to foreign tourist visits to Borobudur. Therefore, our main target market areas are ASEAN and followed by regions in the Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and West Asia," he noted.
According to him, in terms of tourist visit numbers, ASEAN tourists had the highest number and followed by those of Europe, especially from countries in Western Europe such as Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and France.
While Malaysians and Singaporeans still dominate the foreign visitors of Borobudur Temple, he added.
He further conveyed that before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Malaysians visiting Borobudur in 2019 was recorded at 15,065, followed by 9,549 Singaporean tourists.
The visits of tourists of these two countries were quite high due to direct flights from there to Yogyakarta. "This is a determining factor," he explained.
Mawardi hopes that in the future, the Indonesian Government will seriously work on the "pilgrim" issue, especially for countries with a Buddhist population base that could help increase the number of visits to Borobudur Temple.
"The government has designated Borobudur Temple as a spiritual destination, especially for Buddhists. This will be relevant as long as the door is opened, the big market is in the ASEAN region," he stated.
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Translator: Heru Suyitno, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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