The Indonesian government wants to increase the role of nautical tourism in the economy. Currently, nautical tourism only contributes 10 percent to the whole tourism industry of Indonesia. However, by 2019 the government wants to see the figure having doubled to 20 percent, or worth roughly USD $4 billion. Expansion should be achieved by expanding the number of tourist destinations across the Indonesian Archipelago. Nautical tourism includes the marina, charter and cruise industries that combine sailing and boating with holiday activities.

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It is highly likely that Indonesia will achieve its foreign visitor arrival target of 12 million people in 2016. In the first ten months of 2016 a total of 9.4 million foreigners already visited Indonesia, up 9.5 percent year-on-year (y/y) compared to foreign visitor arrivals in the same period one year earlier. Moreover, before the year-end, Indonesia's Tourism Ministry will organize several events - including a soccer tournament on the island of Bintan as well as the Festival Wonderful Indonesia - that should attract many additional foreign tourist arrivals.

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Based on the latest data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), Indonesia only managed to welcome 9.73 million foreign tourists in 2015, hence failing to achieve the government target at 10 million foreign tourist arrivals. However, BPS also mentioned that it has developed a new counting system. According to this new system the number of people that are counted as foreign tourists in 2015 is 10.41 million, thus considerably exceeding the target set for 2015. What are the differences between these two systems?

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Although the Indonesian government scrapped visit visa requirements for another 45 countries in mid-2015 (for a maximum stay period in Indonesia of 30 days) - with the aim of attracting more tourists - there has not been a marked increase in foreign tourist arrivals in 2015. Therefore it is unlikely that Indonesia will achieve its target of welcoming 10 million foreign tourists in 2015. In the first ten months of the year a total of 8.0 million foreign tourist arrivals were reported.

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Although the Indonesian government's target of welcoming 20 million foreign tourists by 2019 seems highly ambitious given that Indonesia may fail to achieve its target of seeing 10 million foreign visitor arrivals in 2015, several analysts claim that this target is too low. They believe that the target should be raised to 33 million foreign visitors, earning USD $40 billion in foreign exchange, hence replacing crude palm oil as the country's leading foreign exchange earner. However, this new target would only be possible if the government is serious about developing its 10 designated tourist destinations.

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Arief Yahya, Indonesia's Minister of Tourism, said domestic tourists in Indonesia have spent more than IDR 140 trillion (approx. USD $10.1 billion) during the first nine months of 2015 and this figure is expected to rise sharply as many locals will use the Christmas and New Year period to take a holiday somewhere in the world's largest Archipelago. It is estimated that in the January-September 2015 period, domestic tourists made 187.3 million trips. This implies that in each trip a local tourist spends about IDR 750,000 (approx. USD $54) for transportation, hotels, food and souvenirs.

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Foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia declined 3.99 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 723,039 tourists in January 2015 according to data from Statistics Indonesia released on Monday (02/03). The primary reason for this decline is that - this year - Chinese New Year fell in February, whereas last year this event fell in January thus boosting foreign tourist arrivals in January 2014. Therefore, it is expected that tourist arrivals in February 2015 will climb sharply neutralizing the decline in the previous month.

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Within the creative economy industry, the fashion sector of Indonesia is the second-largest contributor to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), after culinary. At the opening of the fourth Indonesian Fashion Week, Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya stated that fashion contributes IDR 200 trillion (USD $15.6 billion) to the country’s GDP. The Indonesian Fashion Week, organized by the Association of Indonesian Fashion Designers (APPMI), is part of an ambition to turn Indonesia into a world center for fashion by 2025.

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Statistics Indonesia announced on Friday morning (02/01) that a total of 764,461 foreign tourists visited Indonesia in November 2014, down 5.32 percent from foreign visitor arrivals in the same month last year. Cumulatively, a total of 8.52 million tourists have visited Indonesia in the January-November 2014 period, up 7.29 percent from the same period in 2013. Arief Yahya, Indonesia’s Tourism Minister, is optimistic that this year’s target of welcoming 9.3 million foreign visitors - spending a total of USD $10.69 billion - will be achieved.

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Indonesia's Tourism Ministry is optimistic it can boost the number of American tourists who visit Indonesia by 25 percent to 375,000 individuals in 2017. Last year a total of 300,000 US citizens visited Indonesia for a holiday, up 11 percent year-on-year (y/y) from US visitor arrivals in the preceding year. Arief Yahya, Indonesian Tourism Minister, said the island of Bali is the favorite tourist destination for American tourists in Indonesia.

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Indonesia's Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said the government plans to offer the visa-free entry facility to 84 additional countries in 2016. This facility means that foreigners from designated countries do not need to obtain a visit visa before entering Indonesian territory (for visits under 30 days). This visa-free entry facility makes it easier for foreign tourists to enter Indonesia, and therefore it should boost tourist figures and foreign exchange earnings from the tourism industry.

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Indonesian Minister for Economic Affairs, Sofyan Djalil, announced an economic policy package that is to be implement to boost the Indonesian economy, particularly in a move to improve the country’s current account balance, which is the broadest measurement of foreign exchange flows, including trade, services, interest payments and remittances. One new policy change involves visa-free travel into Indonesia. Starting from April 2015, Indonesia will allow foreigners from an additional 30 countries to enter Indonesia without a visa.

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The total number of foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia in 2014 was 9.44 million, up 7.19 percent from the preceding year, meaning that the government target of welcoming 9.3 million foreign tourists last year was achieved. As usual, most foreign tourists entered Indonesia through the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, the most famous tourist destination in the world’s largest archipelago. During the whole year of 2014 a total of 3.71 million foreigners spent some time on Bali.

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