Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The various natural disasters that have happened killing hundreds of people -- such as the flash floods in West Papua`s Wasior, Mount Merapi eruptions in Central Java and the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in West Sumatra`s Mentawai Islands-- had raised concern that Indonesia would not be able to reach its target of attracting seven million foreign tourists in 2010.
Yet, as the year is approaching its end, tourism officials are still upbeat that despite the ordeals the country experienced this year, the target of seven million foreign tourist arrivals can be achieved if arrivals in November and December remain stable.
"Indonesia has had to face heavy odds in its tourism sector this year due to the occurrence of a number of natural disasters. But we are still optimistic that the target of 7 million will be achieved," Marketing Director General of the Culture and Tourism Ministry Pasta Nirwandar said.
The optimism is based on the figure of foreign tourist arrivals in the January - October 2010 period which had reached 5.7 million. After all, arrivals in November and December have yet to be calculated, while December is usually a time when tourist arrivals peak.
He said that until Thursday, his ministry had not yet obtained data on the exact number of foreign tourist arrivals for the whole year because recapitulation on the arrivals of foreign tourists had not yet been completed, particularly those arriving in the last two months. Courtesy from Antara News by Andi Abdussalam
