REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia's Minister of Tourism, Arief Yahya said on Thursday that he hoped the number of tourists from China this year would jump to two million.

"My target for 2016 is that the number of tourists from China should reach two million and now we are implementing strategies to achieve the same," he said at the launch of a work culture campaign at his office.

The strategies, he said, include increasing access between China and Indonesia through direct flights, which is now only 37 to 40 percent complete.

"The percentage of access between Indonesia and China is still inferior, compared with that of Thailand, which has reached 80 percent. Therefore I have written to the Ministry of Transportation to open more routes," he said.

Minimally, five direct flights between China and Indonesia could be started from five points, including Denpasar, Jakarta, Riau Islands, Manado and Pontianak-Singkawang, he said.

"The five locations are indeed main destinations for Chinese tourists and so if access to them is opened more tourists from the country will come," he said.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, the additional access would also open more opportunities for tourists to come to the country as there are 11 cities in 11 provinces in China that have become potential tourist markets for Indonesia.

"So far we have only opened access for Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, while there are still seven other cities that have potential for Indonesian tourism. There are a total of 11 cities," he said.

By opening access to the potential cities in China, it is hoped that the number of tourists from China would jump by 60 percent in line with the increasing flight frequency from only 65 to 200 flights (chartered and regular), Minister Arief said.

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