REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- It is too early to conclude that the government had failed to meet its set target of attracting 10 million foreign tourists this year, stated Tourism Minister Arief Yahya.

"We still have to wait until February 2016 before we can calculate and get the real figure (on the number of foreign tourist arrivals). I am still optimistic of achieving the target," Minister Yahya noted here on Friday.

It is considered that the minister had failed to achieve the set target of 10 million foreign tourist arrivals this year although the budget for his ministry had been increased.

Minister Yahya urged all sides to continue supporting the Indonesian tourism sector for improving the welfare of the people.

"The increase in budget will come into effect from next year. I appeal to all sides to jointly develop the tourism sector as it is our common responsibility," he emphasized.

According to the minister, provisional figures revealed that 8,017,589 foreign tourists arrived in the country during the January-October 2015 period.

This number increased by 3.38 percent compared to 7,755,616 foreign tourist arrivals recorded in the corresponding period last year.

"We forecast that by the end of December 2015, the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the country will reach 10.017 million, of which 800 thousand will arrive in November and 1.2 million in December 2015. The 10.017 million foreign tourist arrivals will exceed the set target of 10 million for 2015," he affirmed.

In the meantime, the minister pointed out that Indonesia expects to generate Rp172 trillion in foreign exchange income from tourism in 2016 as the nation is targeting to attract at least 12 million foreign tourists.

The country's tourism potentials could still be optimized in the coming years, Yahya stated here on Wednesday.

"In view of this, we have set optimistic targets of attracting 12 million foreign tourists in 2016 and generating an income of Rp172 trillion from the sector," he noted.

The minister explained that the number of domestic tourist travels in 2016 is expected at 260 million, with expenditures projected at Rp223.6 trillion.

He remarked that the contribution of the tourism sector to the country's gross domestic product is projected to increase by five percent to create 11.7 million jobs.

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