Indonesia has drawn more Chinese tourists and rising investments under the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and has been introducing new tourism programs and incentives to promote its market in China.
Indonesia is rich in natural resources and culture, which attract tourists from all over the world, and China has remained its biggest market for several years, Deputy Minister for Tourism Marketing II Nia Niscaya said at a tourism promotion event in Beijing Saturday.
Niscaya introduced a new program, Tourism Hub, which aims to utilize Singapore's strong air connectivity to transport more Chinese tourists to Indonesia. "It only takes about an hour by ferry from Singapore to some of our islands," she said.
With the world economy facing downward pressure, there could be an impact on consumers' purchasing power, which is a critical factor in the tourism industry, Niscaya told the Global Times Saturday.
To cope with the negative influence, Indonesia would keep offering high-quality services at reasonable prices and hope Chinese people will still visit, she said.
Last year Indonesia received 15.8 million tourists in all, and Chinese travelers made up 14 percent. Further growth is expected, Niscaya said.
From January to April, about 700,000 Chinese visited Indonesia, up 5.2 percent year-on-year, according to Niscaya.
Besides tourism, Indonesia also expects to attract more investments from China. "China's investment is coming, such as the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway," she said. As a representative project jointly launched by China and Indonesia under the BRI, it will make Indonesia the first country in Southeast Asia to have a high-speed railway.
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