Indonesia has set a target of drawing 12.7 million foreign vacationers by 2019, a 25 percent increase from the estimated 9.5 million this year.

According to Marketing Director General of the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Esthy Reko Astuti, the ambition is feasible as the number of tourists in the past five years has increased 35 percent from 7 million in 2010 to an expected 9.5 million in 2014.

In the first four months of this year, the country welcomed 2.9 million visitors, a year-on-year rise of 10.6 percent.

The ministry will boost tourism promotion in Middle Eastern countries, following recent data indicating that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that groups Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt tops the list of the fastest growing numbers of holidaymakers arriving in Indonesia since the beginning of this year.

In the next five years, it will also focus promotions in another 15 markets that contribute around 80 percent of visits to Indonesia, including Singapore, Malaysia, and China.-VNA