Through its Wonderful Indonesia brand, Indonesia will promote its vast tourism potential at the annual International Yoga Festival, due to be held in the Indian city of Rishikesh on March 1-7, 2017.
To this end, the Indonesian Tourism Ministrys Deputy for International Marketing I Gde Pitana will be sent to head a delegation attending the event, the ministry noted in a press statement here on Tuesday.
Pitana said promoting the archipelagos tourism sector in this “City of the Divine” of India is a strategic move, as Indonesia also has several interesting destinations for practicing the art of yoga, and India is a potential market, which has yet to be tapped optimally.
At present, with its growing number of outbound tourists, India has become an important contributor of foreign visitors to Indonesia, he pointed out.
Several factors that may have attracted them to visit Indonesia are related to the two nations cultural similarities and the archipelagos diverse tourist destinations. The increasing trend of Indian travelers visiting the archipelago is also driven by Garuda Indonesias Mumbai-Jakarta flight.
With its diverse tourist destinations, Indonesia has plenty to offer to Indian travelers. Hence, it is necessary to implement various promotional strategies to attract more outbound tourists from the country, Pitana stated.
“One of our efforts is promoting the Wonderful Indonesia brand in India,” he revealed.
For the International Yoga Festival, Indonesia is sending a delegation, setting up a pavilion, as well as displaying and distributing the Wonderful Indonesia promotional materials, Pitana remarked.
The Tourism Ministry is offering support to singer Ayu Laksmi from Balis Svara Semesta (Sound of the Universe) to perform at the worlds largest yoga festival in which yoga lovers from 110 countries are expected to participate.
Laksmi and Semesta will perform at the opening and closing sessions of this annual event. During the festival, Indra Udayana, an artist and envoy of peace, and yoga instructor Anjasmara will also join the performers.
“This event is expected to help boost the image of Indonesias tourism industry to offer greater exposure in India. This is indeed a good opportunity to attract more outbound tourists from India and other countries,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the Tourism Ministrys Deputy Assistant of the Asia Pacific Market Development Vinsensius Jemadu stated that an awareness campaign package of the Wonderful Indonesia brand will be prepared for Indias electronic media.
“We shall also dispatch a Wonderful Indonesia team and prepare attractive souvenirs for the visitors at the Indonesia Pavilion,” he noted.
Bali will be highlighted at the event, as it is the main destination offered to Indians who have known the resort island as a popular place for yoga and spas.
Promoting the Wonderful Indonesia brand in India is expected to strengthen the positive image of the archipelagos tourism sector and to attract more Indian travelers to visit Indonesia, Jemadu remarked.
The Indonesian Tourism Ministry has noted that the biggest contributors of foreign tourists to Indonesia in 2015 were Singapore, with 1,571,982 visitors; Malaysia, with 1,247,270; China, with 1,141,330; Australia, with 1,051,141; Japan, with 528,465; South Korea, with 359,468; India, with 293,415; the UK, with 280,198; the US, with 263,429; and Taiwan, with 211,528.
Referring to the countries of origin and number of foreign tourist arrivals during the period between January and October 2016, the five main contributors were Singapore, with 1,177,695 visitors; China, with 1,221,422; Australia, with 1,011,077; Malaysia, with 989,739; and Japan, with 434,352.
As one of the largest economies of the G-20, India is regarded as a huge potential source of foreign tourists.
The Ministry of Tourism is targeting 15 million international tourist arrivals in 2017.