There Is A De Bintan Tour, The Riau Islands Provincial Government Can Record A Wisman Visit Of Up To 1 Million People This Year

Acting Head of the Riau Islands Provincial Tourism Office (Kepri) Luki Zaiman Prawira. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

TANJUNGPINANG - Acting Head of the Riau Islands Province Tourism Office (Kepri) Luki Zaiman Prawira is optimistic that the number of foreign tourist arrivals to the area will reach one million people by the end of 2022.

He said that based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) during the January-July 2022 period, the number of foreign tourists visiting Riau Islands had reached 175 thousand people.

"The visit of the Riau Islands foreign tourists has started to climb since April, because in the January-March period it is still under lockdown in anticipation of the spread of COVID-19," Luki said, quoted by Antara, Tuesday.

He stated that foreign tourists' visits to Riau Islands were again stretched as the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic improved.

Especially in July 2022, he said, the number of foreign tourists visiting was recorded at 80 thousand people, or the largest compared to the previous months.

"We believe that the number of Riau Islands foreign tourists for the period August to December is able to meet the target of 1 million people. With an average monthly visit of 100 to 200 thousand people," he said.

Luki conveyed that various efforts were made to achieve the target of 1 million foreign tourists, including holding tourism activities, especially international standards, one of which was the De Bintan Tour or Asia's largest international racing event which will be held in Bintan Regency on October 14-16, 2022.

In addition, the active promotion of Riau Islands tourism abroad is also continuously carried out through cooperation in the field of inter-state tourism, especially with neighboring Singapore and Malaysia which contributed the largest foreign tourists to Riau Islands.

"In the near future, Governor Ansar Ahmad will attend a visit to a halal tourism event in Johor, Malaysia, as well as discuss tourism cooperation. Likewise with the Minister of Tourism Singapore," said Luki.

Luki conveyed that his party is working hard to convince foreign tourists that currently Riau Islands are very safe and comfortable to visit for travel, because the development of active COVID-19 cases is only 0.1 percent or 57 people left, while the overall vaccination achievement is already above the national achievement of 70 percent.