Indonesia looks to double Indian visitors to 5 lakh by 2019

Hardselling the country as a preferred tourist destination, Indonesia is looking at a two-fold rise in the number of visitors from India to around 5 lakh annually by 2019 on the back of a slew of initiatives.

"We are expecting around 5 lakh visitors from India by 2019 as India is one of the top 10 source markets for arrivals for the country," Republic of Indonesia Ministry of Tourism, Visit Indonesia Tourism Officer-India Country Director Sanjay Sondhi told PTI.

From January to September this year, already 1,95,214 visitors from India visited Indonesia and "we expect the number to be in the range of around 2,50,000 this year", he added.

Indonesia had 2,37,990 visitors from India in 2014, an increase of around 16.23 per cent from 2013 figures.

Asked about the initiatives being planned by the tourism ministry to position Indonesia as a preferred destination, Sondhi said: "It will be through marketing initiatives that will focus on promoting the country as an attractive destination for leisure travellers and meetings, incentives, conferences, and events (MICE)."

The efforts aim at increasing more leisure traffic to Indonesia, and segments such as high-end luxury, weddings and family visits are being tapped, he added.

"Our marketing strategy will be to be more visible on social media, print and electronic media and participate in key travel events in India," Sondhi said.

On an average, the length of average stay for Indians in Indonesia is around 6 nights, but "we want to increase it to 7-8 nights", he added.

Globally, Indonesia is targeting 20 million arrivals in the country by 2019.