REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DENPASAR -- Indonesia targets 20 million tourists flocking to the country in 2019. Being ambitious to reach the target, government is preparing human resources and infrastructure.
"Indonesia has to catch up. We are left behind," Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya said while launching Markplus Center for Tourism and Hospitality, Saturday, November 8. Malaysia already has 26 tourists visiting the country, while Thailand surpassed with 27 million tourists.
The Markplus Center for Tourism and Hospitality is one way to reach the target. It helps developing capacity building of human resources, researching, and giving advisory on business. "Indonesia will face ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. It brings goods, money, and people. We have to prepare," he said.
Chairman Markplus Center for Tourism and Hospitality, Hermawan Kartajaya said Indonesia needed to comprehensively develop infrastructure, tourism destination, marketing, policy and ecosystem. "We have 18 branches in Indonesia. We have the ability to help local tourism industry mapping tourism destination," he said. Markplus Center has a headquarter in Bali, an island known as the barometer of national tourism.