The Indonesian Embassy in Beijing projected the number of Chinese tourists coming to Indonesia this year at 300,000, for which promotions are being conducted.

The campaign on Visit Indonesia Year (VIY) 2008 launched by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Jakarta since December last year, had been hailed by many circles in China.

Thus, the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing in response to the VIY 2008 campaigns took various measures to lure as many as possible Chinese tourists to Indonesia.

However, the tourist promotions conducted by some Indonesian circles to China have yet to be integrated and coordinated properly, and many were still amateurs in lauching such promotions so that their efforts were not effective and the money that have been spent on these activities were wasted.

"Some of the tourist promotions carried out by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, governors and regents, appeared to be lacking coordination, and ineffective," Ambassador Sudrajat said.

He said experience showed that in 2007 many circles in Indonesia even came to China, which cost a great deal of money, and conducted their promotions in their own individual ways.

And, he said, in their promotion campaigns these people did not first establish coordination with the Indonesian embassy in Beijing, although the embassy is much more familiar with the situation and condition in China.

Another thing which those coming to China for tourist promotion purposes avoid using intermediaries which would not be effective in their promotion activities, and is also financially wasteful, the ambassador said.

According to the immigration section at the Indonesian embassy, most of the Chinese coming to Indonesia using the visa on arrival facility visited the tourist island of Bali.

In 2007 the number of these Chinese tourists to Bali reached 80,010, Immigration Attache at the embassy Firdaus Amir said.

One way of the Indonesian emnbassy in promoting Indonesian tourist spots and destinations