JAKARTA POST


The government has announced its aim to attract one million Japanese tourists to Indonesia by 2019 on the back of revamped tourism policies.

I Gde Pitana, deputy of overseas tourism development at the Tourism Ministry, said that the number of Japanese tourists arrivals have begun to show significant annual increase. The ministry recorded data showing 500,000 tourist arrivals from Japan in 2014 with the number predicted to grow to 600,000 by next year.

"Japanese tourists like Indonesian culture very much because we are so diverse," he said as quoted by state news agency antara on Thursday.
Pitana, who lead the ministry's delegation to Osaka, is focused on promoting Indonesia's free visa policy during his visit to Japan.

The government recently issued a free visa policy for tourists from a total of 90 countries, including Japan, in hopes of bolstering foreign tourist arrivals to this year’s target of 10 million.

The policy allows for a 30-day visit without visa for Japanese tourists to Indonesia.

In addition to this, Pitana explained, the government had also added further access incentives for Japanese tourists looking to visit Indonesia.

The policies include more immigration check-points, clearance approval for Japanese yachts seeking to enter the country through 18 ports and omitting 'Cabotage Principle' - which allows only Indonesian vessels to operate in Indonesian waters.

The government are expecting Japan to rank fifth in arrival statistics, after Singapore, Malaysia, China and Australia.

One of the attractions for Japanese tourists is ocean tourism; visiting Indonesia's beautiful beaches as well as active participation in ocean activities. At least 35 percent of Japanese tourists partake in beach-related activities such as diving and snorkeling.

The Indonesian Consul General in Osaka, Wisnu Edi Pratignyo, was optimistic that Indonesia could attract more Japanese tourists. He explained that Japan remains a big investor in Indonesia's automotive and electronic industries and have also shown a keen interest to invest in the tourism sector.

Tourism Ministry data shows that a total of 7.1 million foreign tourists visited Indonesia as of Nov., a growth of 3.53 percent from 6.9 million in the same period last year