Bali remains the most popular destination for Middle Eastern tourists visiting Indonesia, a Tourism Ministry official said on Sunday.
"After Bali, other popular destinations include Jakarta, Bandung and Bogor in West Java and, lately, Lombok," said the ministry's department head of tourism trips and promotion for Europe, the Middle East, United States and Africa, Rita Sofia, as quoted by Antara news agency in Manama, Bahrain, on Sunday.
The ministry is actively promoting Indonesian tourism in five countries in the Middle East, namely Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. According to Rita, it was also targeting countries that hosted many expats, such as Bahrain and UAE.
"Besides promoting [Indonesian destinations] to these countries' citizens, many expats in Bahrain and UAE are also attracted to vacationing in Indonesia," she said.
Read also: Bali among top three destinations for Australian travelers: Official
Rita added that the ministry also continued to cooperate with the Visit Indonesia Tourism Office (VITO), which served as the tourism industry's representative abroad. Established in 2005 in three countries, VITO currently has offices in 13 countries.
The ministry, in cooperation with the Indonesian Embassy (KBRI) in Manama, hosted the "Indonesia Tourism Gala Dinner" on Sunday, which was attended by travel agents, operators and officials from ASEAN embassies in Bahrain.
According to the ministry's data, up to 12.02 million foreigners visited Indonesia last year, including from Singapore (1.47 million), China (1.45 million), Malaysia (1.225 million) and Australia (1.198 million). Meanwhile, the number of tourists from the Middle East was still small, with Saudi Arabia contributing 186,654 visitors, Egypt 14,325 and UAE 8,220.
Meanwhile, KBRI Manama data revealed that the number of tourists from Bahrain in 2016 reached 1,641 people and that by October this year the figure had reached 2,470 people from a total of 1.5 million citizens. (kes)
Source: Bali remains most popular destination for Middle Eastern tourists
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