However, we already have the requirements for the tourism sector."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The development of the tourism sector must be intensified as it is cheaper than developing the manufacturing field, an official of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) said here on Tuesday.
It also has the comparative advantage of attracting tourists, Deputy Chairman of Kadin Rosan Perkasa Roeslani added.
"The development of industries, especially manufacturing industries, takes a relatively long time and a large budget. However, we already have the requirements for the tourism sector," Roeslani stated.
Several regions already have an advantage of tourist destinations, with supporting infrastructure facilities and their good management the only remaining requirement.
Roeslani pointed out that based on the governments projection, the tourism sector will serve as the main foreign exchange earner in 2019. "Therefore, we need supporting infrastructure facilities for tourism. Developing ports of international standards that can accommodate overseas cruisers is one of them," he affirmed.
According to reports, Indonesia has been selected to host the biggest Asia-Pacific tourism and trade exhibition in 2016, the PATA Travel Mart, which will be organized by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).
CEO of PATA Mario Hardy visited Jakarta to discuss the event to be held in 2016 with the PATA Indonesia Chapter. In a meeting on Saturday, Hardy set a target of drawing in one thousand delegations from 60 countries to participate in the PATA Travel Mart.
"Jakarta will host the 39th PATA Travel Mart, while the 38th leg of the event will be held in Bangalore, India, from September 6 to 8," Hardy revealed.
The PATA Travel Mart is the mainstay activity of the association. It is one of the leading trade and travel exhibitions in the Asia-Pacific region. It displays products and services of travel industries in the region.
Earlier, Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya had expressed optimism that foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia will exceed the set target of 10 million and will reach at least the 10.5 million mark.
"Our target of foreign tourist arrivals this year is 10 million, but I am confident it will exceed it by the end of the year because the number of foreign tourist arrivals in six months has reached 500 thousand," Minister Yahya said on Wednesday (June 24).
Furthermore, Vice President Jusuf Kalla has urged for innovations to develop Indonesias tourism destinations. These innovations should be adopted in various regions in the country to attract foreign tourists.
"Tourism is a very easy business because it does not need huge capital injection," Kalla remarked during his address at the Indonesia Attractiveness Awards event on Friday (June 12).
He added that tourism did not require large funding as its main capital, beautiful natural landscapes and peoples hospitable nature, was God-given.
(Uu.A014/INE/KR-BSR)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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