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THE INDONESIAN government is targeting to increase the number of visitors, both domestic and foreign, to Borobudur Temple to 2 million per year.
“It was calculated by the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry; it is almost 2 million per year, if considering the ratio of Buddhists around the world,” director general of Buddhist community development at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Supriyadi, told the press recently.
The ministry is supporting the Borobudur Temple area as a priority tourist destination as well as a place for the Indonesian and global Buddhist communities to carry out worship activities. Currently, the temple is among the five super-priority destinations in Indonesia, which the government is focusing on developing, in accordance with the instruction of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
To achieve the target, Supriyadi is planning to invite the Indonesian Buddhist community to encourage the world’s communities, especially Buddhists, to visit the temple. Thus, we will increase tourist visits as well.
According to data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS)-Magelang district, around 1.44 million domestic tourists visited Borobudur Temple in 2022. The figure showed a drastic increase compared to the number recorded in 2021, namely 422,930.
The target of 2 million tourists has been deemed realistic, considering that in the past few years, the number of visitors to Borobudur Temple declined dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“After the COVID-19 period, almost every day, we receive a letter on tourist visits. Based on our record, there are 1,200 people (visiting the temple) per day, 150 people climb up the temple (per hour),” he informed.
He said that the government is currently formulating a concept for the management of the Borobudur Temple area to encourage tourism development there. We are currently formulating a concept in addition to common worship (activities), in this case — religious festivals. We continue to study, and the process continues. [antaranews/photo special]
