Darwin (Australia) - Ambon (RI`s provincial capital of Maluku) international Yacht Race take place every year.
Firmansyah Rahim, director general for Tourist Destination Development of the Culture and Tourism ministry made the remarks here Saturday at time of announcing the winners of this year`s yacht race.
“The yacht race can be used as a means to promote culture and Indonesia`s tourism assets especially Maluku to other countries,” he said.
The presentation of rotating cup by the Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik was a token of support to the event, Firmansyah said, adding that the yacht race has been going on since 1976.
He also expressed hope that this year`s participants will take part again next year.(*)
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Source: ANTARA News
August 4th, 2008
Jakarta - The number of foreign tourists that visited Indonesia in the first half of 2008 rose 11.66 per cent to 2.9 million compared with the same period last year, a senior official said Friday.
Rusman Hermawan, chief of the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics, said the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia in June stood at 529,100, or an increase by 3.95 per cent over the previous month and an increase of 6.22 per cent over the same month last year when 498,100 tourists visited the country.
Indonesia has targeted 7 million foreign visitors this year, owing to the 15-million-dollar Visit Indonesia Year 2008 programme launched late last year, and expected to earn up to 6.4 billion dollars in foreign exchange.
Government officials earlier predicted that the number of tourist arrivals in the second half will exceed the January-June figures.
In the last few years Indonesia’s tourism sector has been hard hit by a string of terrorist attacks, earthquakes, tsunamis and bird flu outbreaks. Domestic sectarian violence has also damaged the country’s reputation as a safe destination.
In an attempt to help boost the declining numbers of foreign visitors to the country Indonesia has extended it’s list of countries that receive visas-on-arrival.
Source: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/
August 4th, 2008