Indonesia will participate in a tourism exhibition Holiday Natas Travel Fair in Singapore which is the largest international tourism market in the country. “Kemenbudpar will facilitate the tourism industry in the homeland to participate in the event Natas,” said Director General of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Marketing (Kemenbudpar), Sapta Nirwandar, in Jakarta. He said the Holiday Natas Travel Fair is the international tourism market consumer show held every year by the association of travel agents in Singapore. Exchange will be held on 27-29 August 2010 at Suntec Singapore in the form of exhibitions which will be attended by thousands of Singaporeans, expatriates, and special invitations.

“This event was also held in order to enhance cooperation in promoting cultural diversity and tourism between ASEAN countries in particular and the world at large,” Sapta said.

According to Seven, as much as 39 it would facilitate tourism industry which consists of 24 industrial and 17 tour & travel industry hoteliers.

On that occasion, he said, it also will facilitate and bring together the Indonesian tourism industry with potential buyers in the country through the show cocktail party, table top, and gala-dinner to be held before the exhibition event. The event will be held on August 25, 2010 at the Hotel Furama. Sapta hope that through exchanges of tourism in Singapore, Indonesia is able to attract more foreign tourists, especially from Singapore, which until now still be a major contributor to foreign tourists with more than one million travelers per year to Indonesia.

Central Statistics Agency (BPS) earlier this month recorded a number of foreign tourists coming to Indonesia in June 2010 reached 613 400 persons or 11.41 percent rise compared to June 2009 the number of foreign tourists as much as 550 600 people.

During the first semester (January to June) in 2010, the number of tourists reached 3.38 million people or an increase of 14 percent compared to the number of foreign tourists in the same period last year as many as 2.97 million people.