Malang, E Java, Sept 18 (Antara) - The visits of foreign tourists to the East Java provincial city of Malang during the first semester of 2018 rose significantly or more than 100 percent as compared to the same period last year.
The number of foreign tourists visiting Malang City reached more than 15 thousand, or over 100 percent, from around six thousand tourists recorded during the same period in 2017, Head of the Malang City Culture and Tourism Office (Disbudpar) Ida Ayu Made Wahyuni stated here on Tuesday.
"Foreign tourist arrivals reached more than 15 thousand by the middle of this year and exceeded the set target. In fact, it will continue to grow until the end of the year, especially tourists from Europe," Wahyuni noted.
The increase was the result of the current long holiday season until the end of this month. As a result, several hotels in this city are full until the end of September.
Wahyuni further stated that the interest of foreign tourists to visit Malang City continues to increase owing to promotions conducted overseas.
"The people in Europe, whom we visited during the promotion, no longer inquired about where Indonesia is or about Bali, but they were curious to know about Malang City," she revealed.
Several tourist destinations in Malang include the historical tours of ancient buildings abandoned by the Dutch, Kampung Warna Warni, 3D villages, Kampung Eco Green Purwantoro, and Kampung Putih.
The rise in the number of tourists was not only of foreign travelers, but the number of local visitors also rose, which until last August had reached some 7.5 million as compared to five million last year. (*)
