Indonesia to Ease Licencing for Foreign Ships

Jakarta, 28 Muharram 1438/29 October 2016 (MINA) – Chairman of Indonesian Marine Tourism Development Acceleration as well as the Advisor of Minister of Tourism, Indroyono Soesilo said Indonesia will ease permit for foreign ships to sail in Indonesian waters.

“The permission for foreign ship and also charter flight will be easy now. We need to simplize fy the licencing for foreign vessels,” he said. Republika reported as quoted by MINA.

Indonesia is targeting the tourist arrivals as many as 20 million people in 2019 by generating revenue in foreign exchange amounting to USD 20 billion. So, the tourism sector will create jobs, promote the creative economy, develop the traditional culture and strengthen small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

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Meanwhile, Riau Governor Nurdin Basirun stated, Riau Islands has great potential in tourism, although not included in the 10 leading tourist destinations. He promises to make simple regulation in tourism sector, so it will increase public welfare.

Tourism in Indonesia is an important component of the Indonesian economy as well as a significant source of foreign exchange revenues. The vast archipelago country sprawling in the equator has much to offer; from natural beauty, historical heritage to cultural diversity.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the direct contribution of travel and tourism to Indonesia to GDP in 2014 amunted to IDR 325,467 billion (US$26,162 million) or about 3.2% of the total GDP.

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By 2019, the Indonesian government wants to have the figure doubled to 8 percent of GDP and the number of visitors needs to double to about 20 million. The tourism sector ranked as the 4th largest among goods and services export sectors.

A total of 9.73 million of foreign tourists visited Indonesia last year, with the average length of stay reaching 7.5 days and spending an average of US$1,142 per person during their visit, or US$152.22 per person per day. Singapore, Malaysia, China, Australia, and Japan are the top five sources of visitors to Indonesia.

Islamic tourism (Indonesia calls it Sharia tourism) is a subcategory of religious tourism which is geared towards Muslim families who abide by Islamic rules, or it is said as Muslim friendly tourism.

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The categorization of tourism related to goods and services that are designed, produced, and presented to the markets could be considered under Islamic or Halal tourism. Such use of terminology is already common in daily usage for example halal trips, sharia hotels, sharia airlines, halal food etc. .(T/R03/R07)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)