Ha Long City – The Indonesian president Joko Widodo named the tourism industry of his country as one of Indonesia’s core industries besides agriculture and fishery. Representatives of the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism stated at the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) in Ha Hong City, Vietnam, that the clear goal for 2019 is, to reach the target of 20 million by the end of the year.

The Ministry representatives pointed out, that Indonesia has received a number of prestigious tourism awards, such as “The Best in Travel 2019 Top Countries” by Lonely Planet, the “Best 10 Travel & Tourism Power and Performance Report” by the World Travel & Tourism Council, “The Best National Tourism Organization” at the TTG Travel Awards and the “Top 20 Fastest Growing Travel Destination in the World”.

Based on statistics released by UNWTO, in 2017 the growth in foreign tourists reached 22% from 11.52 million to 14.04 million. This is the second highest growth in the world after Vietnam that reached 29%. The average growth in tourism in the ASEAN region is 7% , the world average is 6,4%.

The total number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia until November 2018 reached 14,39 million, therefore increased by 11,63% compared to the same period in 2017.

In order to reach the ambitious goal of attracting foreign visitors to Indonesia, the government implemented a number of superior strategies and programs, such as the development of digital tourism, millennial tourism and nomadic tourism.

In this context 10 priority destinations (“10 new Bali’s”) have been identified: Lake Toba, Kelayang Cape, Borobudur Temple, Wakatobi, Morotai, Lesung Cape, Seribu Archipelagos, Bromo-Tengger-Semeru Mountain, Mandalika and Labuan Bajo by implementing three “A’s”: Attraction, Amenity and Accessibility.

The government also plans to develop Los-Cost Terminals (LCT) at airports in order to raise foreign tourist access via Low-Cost carriers (LCC).

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, until November 2018, the total number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia from neighboring ASEAN countries reached 4,8861 million., an increase of 21,02%. Tourism minister Arief Yahya called Southeast Asia as the “sexiest market of Indonesian tourism”. Yahya added: “For that reason, we do not want to lose the moment to optimize the market of the cross-border countries. ASEAN is near and familiar in terms of distance and culture.”