Indonesia’s tourism industry remains confident, according to I.Gede Pitana, Director of International Promotion at the Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. He told a ITB Asia press conference in Singapore: “The [global financial] crisis will probably affect our target of seven million international travellers this year. However, we should still be able to achieve a growth of over 20% with 6.5 to 6.7 million tourists.”

Mr Pitana said that Indonesia had invested a lot in new infrastructure and these efforts were starting to pay off. He cited close to 11,500 classified hotels with over 255,000 rooms, 10 world-class convention centres each able to receive up to 5,000 delegates, and 450 first-class shopping centres, which make the country an attractive destination for Singaporeans, Chinese or Malaysians.

The Indonesian government will extend its Visit Indonesia Year 2008 campaign into 2009. However, new promotions will be more centred on marine and MICE tourism. “We have a unique natural and historical heritage. We have over the years gained recognition from the scuba dive market for our exceptional coral reefs. We also have over 50 national parks and nine UNESCO listed-world heritage sites,” said Mr Pitana. The tourism director also said that Indonesia is not only Bali. He beseeched the tourism industry:  “Look beyond Bali please. And discover the amazing diversity of our land.”