Indonesia strives to become global vegan tourism destination
Indonesia is making efforts to create world-class tourism destinations for vegetarians, according to Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya. The country has launched large-scale advertising campaigns to attract more foreign tourists with a hope of making tourism the biggest foreign exchange source for the economy, the minister said.
A number of tourists visit the Lombok Kuta Beach, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia (Source: en.tempo.co)
Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia is making efforts to create world-class tourism destinationsfor vegetarians, according to Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya. The country has launched large-scale advertisingcampaigns to attract more foreign tourists with a hope of making tourism thebiggest foreign exchange source for the economy, the minister said.
Indonesia is named in the top 20 vegetarian-friendly countries. According to the Global Vegetarian Index issuedby the UK-based Oliver’s Travels, it ranked 16th among 183 vegetarian-friendlycountries, with 438 vegetarian restaurants.
Arief Yahya said vegetarian tourism sites are mostly based in Belitungarchipelago, with organic gardens and favourite vegetarian food.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, there are about 500 million vegetarians worldwide,including 350 million in India and 50 million in China.
The five biggest tourist markets of Indonesia are China, India, Europe,Australia and Singapore, which boast the populous vegetarian communities.
China tops the list, with 2.2 million people visiting Indonesia last year. Itwas followed by India with 485,000 visitors.-VNA
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A number of tourists visit the Lombok Kuta Beach, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia (Source: en.tempo.co) 
