Indonesia launches Cheng Ho Sea Route

？ [Photo from chinanews.com]

？ [Photo from chinanews.com]

Indonesia's Ministry of Tourism inaugurated the Cheng Ho Sea Route Package at the Bali & Beyond Travel Fair (BBTF) on Feb 26. The fair was held in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, with the aim of attracting more visitors from home and abroad.

The route is named after a legendary Chinese admiral from the Ming Dynasty who led voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and East Africa between 1405 and 1433. The route package includes a series of tourism trade fairs that will be held in June.

Indonesia's Tourism Minister, Arif Yahya, said that the Cheng Ho Sea Route Package was launched in island of Batam as a comprehensive project initiated by the government of Indonesia and integrates tourism, culture, commerce and trade. The package aims to explore nine cities, which are Batam, Palembang, Bangka, Belitung, Jakarta, Cirebon, Semarang, Surabaya and Bali. Batam is said to be the first destination in Indonesia that the admiral and his vessels visited. By restoring the cultural and religious relics and customs left by Cheng Hoand on his voyages, the package is expected to boost tourism cooperation between China and Indonesia.

The Minister went on to say that Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, have agreed to strengthen the two countries' comprehensive cooperation. The Cheng Ho Sea Route Package will become the platform of bilateral people-to-people and cultural exchange, just like the role played by Cheng Ho on his voyages. The minister said that in 2014, the largest number of tourists in Indonesia were from Singapore, followed by Malaysia, Australia, China and Japan. China has become an important tourist-source country for Indonesia.

The minister also said that in order to attract Chinese tourists, the airline company Garuda Indonesia has opened regular direct flights from Beijing to Bali, with a frequency of three flights every week. Garuda Indonesia has launched four direct routes to China, including the existing direct flights from Jakarta to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

In addition to the opening of regular direct flights, Garuda Indonesia will also open seven direct charter flights from Harbin, Chongqing, Chengdu, Kunming, Xi'an, Shenyang, and Ningbo to Bali during the tourism high season. Direct flights from Chengdu to Manado - the capital city of Indonesia's North Sulawesi and a world-famous diving resort – will also be launched. The government of Indonesia plans to attract two million Chinese visitors.