REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (Asita) has hailed President Joko Widodo for the seriousness with which he is working to develop the country's tourism sector.

Asita chief Asnawi Bahar said here on Saturday that of the seven presidents who have led the country so far, only President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has been so responsive towards tourism.

He referred to the development of ten new tourism destinations, referred to as "the New Bali Ten," as proof of the seriousness with which the Jokowi-JK (Jusuf Kalla) government has been formulating strategies to earn foreign exchange easily and quickly.

"It is incredible. Tourism has been put into the list of main programs. It is now a priority area along with infrastructure, food, energy and maritime," he stated.

Although President Jokowi has not yet completed his second year in office, the vigorousness of the national tourism sector is already being felt, he added.

He observed that investors have started to have confidence in the future of tourism in the country.

"They have felt the fruits of the moves to usher in swift and effective deregulation policies in the tourism sector," he pointed out, referring to the number of countries covered by the government's visa-free policy.

During the terms of the past six presidents, only 15 countries were covered but now that number has increased to 169.

Asnawi explained that the openness that Indonesia showed towards the world through visa facilitation was part of the government's commitment to develop the sector.

"It is therefore not surprising that the Central Bureau of Statistics has recorded a significant increase in the number of foreign tourists' arrivals from only 9.73 million in 2014 to 10.41 million in 2015," he elaborated.

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