JAKARTA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government has revised down the target of foreign tourist arrivals to 18 million this year partly due to catastrophes, an official of the Tourism Ministry said on Monday.
The target of foreign tourist arrivals was cut by 2 millions to 18 millions this year, Esthy Reko Astuti from the Tourism Ministry said.
"As the data from the national statistics bureau has unveiled that the number of foreign tourist arrivals touched 15.8 million people last year. And at the beginning of this year, the target of foreign tourist arrivals for 2019 was put at 20 millions. The hike was 2 millions, it is a high increase. Finally, the target is revised down to about 18 millions," Esthy said.
The official said the revision was made on the ground that several unpredictable things have already happened across the country, including natural disasters.
Efforts have been made to revive tourism, such as boosting promotion with rising financial supports and intensifying coordination with local authorities, Antara news wire quoted Esthy as saying.
As a vast archipelagic country, Indonesia had suffered from tsunami, earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruption and floods in recent years, leaving hundreds of people dead and huge infrastructure damages.
Data from the national statistics bureau unveiled that the number of foreign tourist visiting the country from January to May reached 6.37 million.
