Indonesia counters tourism loss with promotions

The ministry is projecting a drop of arrivals to Indonesia for November compared to with October as well as the same period last year.

Figures showed there were a total of 87 flights cancelled between October 26 and November 30, which translate into a potential loss of 9,918 arrivals.

Speaking at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Indonesia National Coordination Meeting in Jakarta today, director general of marketing Sapta Nirwandar said: "We have yet to get the report on arrivals, but the closure of the Jogjakarta airport (for more than two weeks) and international airlines' cancellations to Jakarta on November 6 due to the volcanic ash meant loss of arrivals."

Among the planned initiatives are the Bandung Great Sale, a golf tournament in Batam and a Pray for Our Earth meditation in Central Java.

With these measures, the tourism authority is hopeful of meeting its seven-million arrival target for the year. Arrivals to Indonesia for the first 10 months totalled 5,780,571, a 11.8 per cent increase from the same period last year. (Sources: Mimi Hudoyo, Jakarta, TTGAsia)