Can China help tourist-hungry Indonesia create 10 ‘mini Balis’?

With some infrastructure help from China, the nation plans to create several more attractive holiday spots and keep the Southeast Asian nation’s record-breaking tourist-number streak going

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Visitors pose on a platform at the Pulepayung tourist attraction in Kulon Progo regency, special region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 12:00pm, 24 Feb 2018Updated: 12:22pm, 24 Feb 2018

Millions of global holidaymakers flock to Indonesia’s Bali every year, enticed by its beautiful beaches and scenic rice paddies, as well as a rich Hindu culture that earned it the moniker “The Island of 1,000 Temples”.

Bali’s tourism appeal is unequalled in Indonesia, so much so that it is common to find foreigners who think the resort island is its own country. Now, the Southeast Asian nation wants to change this by promoting 10 tourist destinations dubbed as “the new Bali”.

Those places range from the diving havens of Wakatobi in South Sulawesi, Morotai in Maluku, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara, Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara, Tanjung Kelayang in Bangka Belitung to the beach enclaves of Tanjung Lesung in Banten and Thousand Islands in Jakarta; from the Unesco heritage site of Borobudur Temple in Yogyakarta and the country’s largest freshwater lake Toba in North Sumatra, to active volcanoes Bromo-Tengger-Semeru in East Java.

Former US President Barack Obama walks down the stairs of Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. Photo: AP

Through these improved sightseeing spots, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy hopes to boost its tourism industry from 4 per cent of its gross domestic product in 2014 to 20 per cent by 2019.

Indonesia needs US$20 billion to develop these destinations, and it expects foreign investors to foot half of the bill. China is projected to be one of its biggest backers, thanks to Indonesia’s participation in ‘Belt and Road Initiative’.

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