REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PASADENA - Indonesia relies on tourists from Asia to boost the growth by 10 percent in 2013. The arrival of Asian tourists will cover the short number of tourists from the crisis European Union.
"During crisis, people tend to visit closer destinations," Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Mari Elka Pangestu, said on Monday during her working visit in Pasadena, California.
She is optimistic the number of foreign tourists will increase in 2013. "Tourism sector is still sustainable during crisis," she said. She exampled that in 2012, the visit of foreign tourists was growing by five percent despite the crisis.
"It surpasses the growth of global tourism, which is 3-4 percent," she said. Government targets eight million foreign tourists to come to Indonesia in 2013.
