ISLAMABAD, OCT 12 (DNA) -Tourism is an excellent way to promote people to people contacts.

Tourism is generally about leisure and pleasure but it is true that it gives opportunity to people of various cultures to assimilate together and build appreciation for the cultural diversity.  It also brings entrepreneur, intellectuals, writers, students and professionals together and opens up windows of many opportunities to learn and benefit from.

No wonder, Indonesia takes pride of having top tourist destination of the world and it receives millions of foreign tourists annually from all corners of the world who get inspired and fascinated by the endless and exceptional beauty and diversity of the country.

However, it is also true that people in Pakistan by and large are unaware about the huge tourism opportunities in Indonesia and consequently very few Pakistanis visit Indonesia.

Promotion of the two way tourism is one of the key measures that could bring people of the two countries even closer. It will ultimately encourage social, cultural, educational linkages and accelerate trade and economic activity between the two sides.

Though Pakistan and Indonesia are the two largest Muslim populated countries and despite having huge tourism potential the tourist traffic between them is modest.

Indonesia where foreign tourists arrivalstouched 16 million in 2018, the total number of Pakistani touriststhat visited Indonesia were just over 13 thousands only.

However due to concerted efforts by the Embassy to exploit the potential the improving level of awareness and growing interest among the Pakistani outbound touristsabout Indonesia the number of Pakistani tourists visiting Indonesia has already crossed 8 thousands mark in the first semester of the current year and it is expected the numbers will cross 16 thousands mark in the second semester.

With this background, the Embassy in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia annually organizes its familiarization trip “Wonderful Indonesia” with the objective to enhance greater people to people contacts between Indonesia and Pakistan by promoting bilateral tourism between the two countries.

Every year the familiarization trip offers renowned bloggers, travel writers and TV Channels ten days guided tour and takes the participants to places of attractions and top tourist destinations in Indonesia.

It provides an opportunity to the participants to see the rich and diverse culture and landscape but also to taste Indonesia’s unique and variant cuisine and enjoy the warmth and hospitality of friendly Indonesian people.

This year the FAMTRIP that is scheduled on 15-25 October 2019, will take the participants to the Indonesian Capital City of Jakarta, Thousand Islands Tourist Resorts in Jakarta District, World famous Bali Island and the Labuan Bajo – Komodo Islands situated in the East Nusa Tenggaraprovince of Indonesia.

The first destination of the trip is Jakarta the capital city of the Republic of Indonesia. Jakarta is a huge, sprawling metropolis, home to over 10 million people with diverse ethnic group background from all over Indonesia.

Jakarta is not only the seat of the national government and the provincial government, but it is also Indonesia’s political center. Moreover, Jakarta is the hub of Indonesia’s national finance & trade and amazing historical and cultural heritage.

The trip is also being coincided with 34th Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI) which is an international B2B-focused tradeshow. The TEI promotes quality export oriented products to the global market and offer businessmen from across the world to explore wide range of Trade, Tourism and Investment opportunities in Indonesia. No wonder, a good number of Pakistani businessmen every year visit the TEI and this year again number of Pakistani businessmen are expected to participate in the Expo.

While in Jakarta the participants will also explore “Thousand Islands” located north of Jakarta city. Thousand Islands has their name because there are more than 130 islands in the cluster.

Peaceful and serene environment makes it a perfect getaway from city noise. Some islands already have been developed as major tourist destination. There are many resorts built so that guests can enjoy the natural charm of the Thousand Islands such as beaches, underwater beauty, island hopping and sunrise – sunset.The islands are a snorkeling haven and watersports playground in particular for the inhabitants of the metropolitan city.

This time the trip is taking the participants to a new destination which is situated on the westernmost tip of the Island of Flores, the town of Labuan Bajo that sits peacefully with many wonders waiting for the tourists to explore. Labuan Bajo was only a small fishing site that today has flourished to become the gateway to many exotic destinations in East Nusa Tenggara.

The extraordinary interest of the travelers has spiked in recent years due to the iconic Komodo dragon national park.The Komodo National Park was listed as UNESCO’s World Heritage Site in 1991. It is home to fascinating wildlife, both on land and underwater. The park consists of Komodo Island, Rinca Island, Padar Island and numerous smaller islands around them.

And finally, the participants will visit Bali also known as the Land of the Gods that appeals through its sheer natural beauty of looming volcanoes and lush terraced rice fields that exude peace and serenity. It is also famous for surfers’ paradise! Bali enchants with its dramatic dances and colorful ceremonies, its arts, and crafts, to its luxurious beach resorts and exciting nightlife.

The FAMTRIP is the earnest efforts of the Embassy to promote all around bilateral relations between the two friendly countries. The Embassy believes that the participants of the FAMTRIP will help build Indonesian tourism profile in Pakistan and highlight through their blogs, social media platforms the wide ranging exciting infotainment to their readers and viewers not just about tourism potential but also about diverse socio-culturalaspects of the Indonesian society and progressive development of the Indonesian Economy.=DNA