Indonesia picked as favourite Asean destination for travel fair

KUALA LUMPUR: If you fancy going on a holiday to a place with beautiful beaches, cultural diversity and heritage, then consider Indonesia as your next destination.

Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) president Hamzah Rahmat said Indonesia has been picked as the Asean favourite destination for the Sept 4-6 fair at the Putra World Trade Centre.

He said this was part of promoting more inter-Asean travelling.

“The number one tourist arrivals in Asean countries are those from other Asean countries. In Malaysia, 75% of tourist arrivals are from Asean countries,” he said at a press conference yesterday.

Hamzah said inter-Asean travelling was important but more needed to be done to achieve the target.

Indonesia’s director of promotion for Asean region Rizki Handayani said the potential for Malaysia as a partner and source of tourists was big.

“Last year, we had almost 1.3 million Malaysians visiting Indonesia.

“This year, we are targeting at least 1.7 million Malaysian tourists,” said Rizki.

She said the Indonesia Pavilion at the MATTA Fair would showcase the diversity of tourist destinations in Sumatra, Java, Bali, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara and Papua.

Rizki said about 90 travel agencies, hotels and provincial tourism authorities would be present at the fair.

An Indonesian Food Festival would be held at Seri Pacific Hotel from Sept 4 to 11 for people to sample authentic Indonesian cuisine, she added.

Meanwhile, on a separate issue, Hamzah advised Muslim pilgrims to buy umrah and haj packages only from licensed travel agents.

He said this in response to news reports about 200 people in Terengganu who were duped by a travel agent.

“I hope stern action will be taken against such culprits,” he said.