"It is very important to fix the tourism sector in the regions to push the economy there grow higher," the minister noted.
According to her, foreign tourists who visit Indonesia in general come from Asian region such as South Korea, the Philippines, and Japan.
She said the number of tourists from Japan to Indonesia this year increased twice from five percent last year to 10 percent.
"Interestingly, tourist arrival from the United States and Europe is also high enough the economic growth in those two regions is uncertain," Mari said.
She added that if the domestic companies intensively fixed the tourism sector in the regions, it would attract more foreign tourists to visit the areas.
"We are optimistic that the economy in the regions will grow higher if the tourism sector there is fixed and managed well," said the tourism and economic minister.
She pointed out that PT Bank Central Asia (BCA) for example, positively supported the progress of arts and culture and tourism in the country with a series of activities.
"It is the manifestation of BCA`s consistency in supporting the development of tourism, arts, and culture in Indonesia," she went on.
(O001/F001)
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
