Indonesia Eyes More African Tourists From Indonesia-Africa Forum

BADUNG (Bali), Sept 3 (Bernama-ANTARA) --The Indonesian government is looking to optimise the ongoing 2nd Indonesia-Africa Forum (IAF) and High-Level Forum on Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships (HLF-MSP) to draw more African tourists, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno stated.

"These events act as highly effective instruments in promoting Indonesia's appeal. The BPS (Statistics Indonesia) has just recently released data that shows a significant increase in the African tourist count here," he remarked.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the international forums in Badung District, Bali, on Tuesday, Uno underlined that South Africa contributed the most number of tourists to Indonesia among other African nations at 15 thousand visits, followed by Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Kenya. Most African tourists entered Indonesia via the provinces of Bali, Jakarta, and Riau Islands, reported ANTARA.

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In addition to the promising number of visits, Uno noted that tourists coming from Africa tend to stay for a relatively long time of up to 17 days in Indonesia.

Moreover, during their lengthy stays, African tourists can spend Rp38 million (about US$2.4 thousand), on average, per person, exceeding that of tourists from various countries, he added.

For these reasons, the minister echoed the Indonesian government's keenness to make the most of the two conferences to draw the attention of Africa, with a population reaching nearly one billion, to Indonesia's tourism sector appeal.

"All eyes are glued on Africa, as the continent possesses a huge market and stores abundant resources. Thus, we believe that we must take advantage of these factors by holding a series of activities expected to solidify Africa-Indonesia cooperation," he expounded.

Uno further remarked that the government had set a target of boosting the tourist count from Africa by 20 per cent after the holding of the IAF and HLF-MSP.

The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry is striving to fully draw on the two international events to forge tourism cooperation with African states, such as Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, and the Tanzanian region of Zanzibar.

The 2nd IAF, themed " Bandung Spirit for Africa's Agenda 2063", is being held in Bali from Sept 1-3 in conjunction with the 2024 HLF MSP that adopts "Strengthening Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships: Towards a Transformative Change" as its theme.

-- BERNAMA-ANTARA