Jakarta, March 8 (Antara) - Indonesia considers India as one of the potential market for promoting its tourism and to attract as many tourists as possible from that country.
Hence, when India organized the world's biggest International Yoga Festival (IYF) in Rishikesh from March 1 to 7, 2017, Indonesia did not want to lose the opportunity and sent its promotional campaign team.
Through its participation in the festival, the Ministry of Tourism expected to attract more Indian tourists this year. After all, the number of Indian tourists to various parts of the world reached some 22 million every year, of which only about 1.5 percent visit Indonesia.
Through its participation in the week-long Yoga festival, Indonesia hopes to attract at least 546 thousand Indian tourists this year.
"In 2016, the number of Indian tourists visiting Indonesia was recorded at 376,802. The number increased by 28 percent compared to that in 2015. India is one of the potential markets that need to be explored. A total of 22 million Indians make an overseas trip every year, but only about 1.5 percent of them visit Indonesia, "Deputy Secretary of International Tourism Marketing Development of the Ministry of Tourism, Ni Wayan Giri Adnyani, was quoted by Kompas.com as saying on Sunday (March 5).
The Tourism Ministry is optimistic that after taking part in the IYF, the number of Indian tourists visiting Indonesia would increase.
The IYF had been organized in Rishikesh since 1989. The event was first organized by the government of Uttar Pradesh and then by the government of Uttarakhand since 2001. Since 1999, Parmarth Niketan has been hosting this world-renowned event, which is growing in size year after year and has gained international acclaim.
Last year (from March 1 to 7), the famous annual IYF was held on the banks of the Holy Ganges, in the lap of the sacred Himalayas, the birthplace of yoga Parmarth Niketan Ashram.
Early this month, the Indonesian Tourism Ministry has taken part in the world-famous event. Ni Wayan Giri Adnyani stated in Jakarta on Wednesday that the nation's tourism brand "Wonderful Indonesia" was promoted during IYF.
According to Tourism Ministry's Deputy for International Marketing I Gde Pitana, promoting the archipelago's 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 was a potential market, which has yet to be explored 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 include the two nations' cultural similarities and the archipelago's diverse tourist destinations. The increasing trend of Indian travelers visiting the archipelago is also driven by Garuda Indonesia's 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.
Therefore, the nation's tourism brand "Wonderful Indonesia" was promoted in India during the world's biggest International Yoga Festival.
"This is the biggest yoga festival, followed by 91 countries in the world," Deputy Secretary of International Tourism Marketing Development of the Ministry of Tourism, Ni Wayan Giri Adnyani said adding that there is high potential to promote the "Wonderful Indonesia" brand at such a grand event.
She remarked that Indonesia can maximize its efforts to promote the country's tourism destinations at the event, especially those that offer religious and yoga tourism packages.
"The Ministry of Tourism had participated in the festival by presenting Ayu Laksmi from the Svara Semesta group that featured dances and songs at the opening ceremony and the events held at the International Yoga Festival and at the Rishikesh Art & Film Festival," Adnyani pointed out.
The Indonesian delegates who participated in the event included Indra Udayana, the initiator of the Indonesia-India Sanggam, and Anjasmara of the Yoga Association of Indonesia.
For conducting promotional activities, Indonesia had presented a pavilion or "Wonderful Indonesia" booths at two different venues.
"The Wonderful Indonesia booths were at two different places: at the yoga festival's venue and the art film festival's opening venue," he stated.
On the occasion, Indonesia also cooperated with several industry players in India to participate in marketing tourism packages to the country, including with the NK Enterprises from New Delhi, which sells tour packages to Indonesia, notably to Bali.
"Most visitors are more interested in Bali, but other destinations were also promoted to them," he emphasized.
Adnyani noted that the promotion of Indonesian tourism through the "Wonderful Indonesia" brand during the festival grabbed the attention of over 10 thousand people. It was able to boost the popularity of Indonesia as the world's favorite tourist destination.
(A014/INE/B003)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/Bustanuddin) 08-03-2017 21:10:28 |
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