Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Malaysian and Singaporean visitors dominated tourist arrivals in Indonesia in the first two months of 2011, a minister said.

"Admittedly, the two countries remain the main market for the Indonesian tourism," Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik said here on Tuesday.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) show 88,146 Singaporean tourists visited Indonesia in February, a 8.17 percent increase compared to the same month last year when the figure was 81,081.

Meanwhile, the number of Malaysian tourists visiting Indonesia in February 2011 rose 12.54 percent to 79,462 from 70,609 in February 2010.

"Until February the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia reached 1.116 million," he said.

Compared to the same period last year, the figure represented a 9.83 percent increase, he said.

About 1.016 million tourists visited Indonesia in the first two months of last year.

The government has set the target of tourist arrivals for 2010 at 7.7 million and their spending expected to reach US$8.5 billion.

Last year, the number of tourist arrivals in the country outstripped the government-set target of 7 million with their spending estimated at US$7.6 billion.

Singapore and Malaysia were listed as Indonesia`s main sources of tourist arrivals last year, followed by China, Australia and Japan. (*)
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Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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