ER
THE MINISTRY of Tourism believes that from the beginning of this year until the end of 2025, we can achieve the target for foreign tourist arrivals.
According to the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Ni Luh Puspa, who started the activities on the first day of 2025 by welcoming foreign tourists at the port of Bandar Bentan Telani, Lagoi, Bintan, Riau Islands, said I believe that from the beginning of this year until the end of 2025 we can achieve the target for foreign tourist arrivals recently.
“Welcoming the first foreign tourists to set foot in Indonesia through the Riau Islands in 2025 has a symbolic meaning as well as hope for the performance of the tourism sector, which will continue to grow and have an impact throughout 2025,” she said.
The Riau Islands, she continued that have a strategic role and position in supporting foreign tourist visits to Indonesia. Its location on the sea border with Singapore and Malaysia makes this island province one of the three largest entry points for foreign tourists to Indonesia after Bali and Jakarta.
“The Riau Islands also have a variety of destinations and attractions, both natural, cultural, artificial and sports. So, this is an extraordinary potential for the Riau Islands to further increase the arrival of foreign tourists. I also encourage the tourism industry to increase innovation and creativity in presenting new destinations that prioritize quality and sustainable tourism,” Ni Luh Puspa affirmed.
She added that the improved attractions are expected to increase the length of stay of tourists and their spending,
Regarding foreign tourist visits, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) noted that by October 2024, the number of foreign tourists nationwide had reached 11.6 million visits and is expected to continue to increase until December 2024. This number is close to the realization of 11.7 million visits in 2023.
“Currently (in 2025), the Ministry of Tourism is targeting (foreign tourist visits) of around 14 million to 16 million foreign tourists. I hope (more) (foreign tourists) will come to the Riau Islands,” she explained.
Meanwhile Riau Islands Governor, Ansar Ahmad appreciated the presence of Deputy Tourism Minister Ni Luh Puspa in welcoming the first foreign tourists to Riau Islands in 2025. He said this showed the strong commitment of the Ministry of Tourism to support the development of tourism in the Riau Islands.
BPS data shows that the tourism sector in Riau Islands has increased after the COVID-19 pandemic. Until October 2024, the number of foreign tourist visits to Riau Islands reached 1.3 million.
“And there are still 2 months (to be calculated). Plus November and December 2024, our tourist visits could reach 1.6 million to 1.7 million,” Ansar noted.
Before the pandemic, the number of foreign tourist visits to Riau Islands had reached 2.97 million in 2019. This was partly supported by the government’s immigration facilities, namely the visa-free and visa-on-arrival policies.
This kind of policy is currently expected to facilitate foreign tourists to Riau Islands. Previously, a visa-free visit policy was issued specifically for permanent residents of Singapore.
This visa facilitation policy has had a significant positive impact on increasing the number of foreign tourists to Riau Islands by 2,935 tourists by the end of November 2024.
Currently, the Riau Provincial Government has officially proposed to extend the visa-free visit policy to other entities in Singapore that also have significant potential as new market niches.
These include Employment Pass holders, S Pass holders, Dependent Pass (DP) holders, Long Term Visit Pass (LTVP) holders and Student Pass holders.
“Hopefully, this can increase the number of foreign tourists visiting Riau Islands. Meanwhile, to increase the length of stay, the Riau Islands provincial government will intensify international events in Riau Islands,” he said.
He concluded that we have started activities such as triathlon, marathon, Tour de Bintan, and later we will promote activities such as kite surfing, wind surfing, Kite Tour Asia, Asian Tour Golf and others. [traveltext.id]
