Indonesia: Government Plans to Attract 5 Million Muslim Tourists in 2019

Indonesia: Government plans to attract 5 million Muslim tourists in 2019

The Jakarta Post

The government aims to attract five million Muslim tourists from the Middle East and elsewhere within three years, double this year's projected target of two million.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said that Indonesia is already the preferred tourist destination among OIC member states and will offer more Halal tourist attractions to attract more visitors. At the same time, the government will introduce more Halal-certified food and hotels so that Muslim tourists can be more at ease on holiday.

Halal tourism is a tourism concept that provides services compliant with Halal. For example, hotels in such places cannot provide alcohol service and will have separate swimming pools and SPA facilities.

'Because the market needs Halal-certified food, we will follow market demand,' Arief said.

The government strives to improve local Halal tourism, for example by setting up a team dedicated to stimulating Halal tourism and providing 10 Halal tourist attractions—including Lombok, Sumatra and Aceh.

In addition, some public facilities will be improved, adding places for prayer and toilets, Sapta added.

According to the 2016 GMTI (Global Muslim Travel Index) released on Wednesday by Mastercard and an authoritative Muslim travel agency, Indonesia rose two places to rank fourth, behind Malaysia, the UAE and Turkey.

Indonesia is increasingly aware of the importance of providing Halal services, which is why it rose two places in last year's GMTI. A Mastercard executive for product and service solutions in the Asia-Pacific region added that Indonesia also offers a range of Halal tourist attractions.