The provincial government of Gorontalo is striving to draw as much as 30,000 tourists this year.
This figure represents four times higher as compared to the foreign tourist arrivals in the year 2016 at 7,000. Resma Kabkoran who is the acting director of Gorontalo tourism department said that the stimulus programs of Tourism Ministry are believed to raise the tourism numbers to this Indonesian province.
Currently, no direct international flight to Gorontalo is available though Jalaluddin Airport has the potential to accommodate Boeing 737-900 aircraft.
He told the local media that the Tourism Ministry of this part of the world has started arranging international charter flights with an aim to attract more tourists and also has been developing the key tourism locales.
One of the main issues that have been adversely impacting the tourism sector of this region is transportation.
Earlier, there were no direct flights to Gotontalo from Jakarta. As of Wednesday, 12th April, 2017, low-cost carrier Batik Air has opened a direct flight to Gorontalo from Soekarno-Hatta Airport that is based in Cengkareng. Resma feels that the direct flight from Gorontalo would greatly boost the tourist arrivals to this province.
Last year, Gorontalo had drawn 367,000 tourists.
Resma also declared that the region is trying to draw Chinese tourists. She went on to add that the Chinese tourist figures have started to improve immediately after the opening of the Manado-Gorontalo route.
With a view to attract more tourists, Gorontalo government is trying to improve its tourist attractions, basically relying on natural tourism.
Whale sightings in Botubarani and also Pulao Cinta (Love Island) are some of the most popular tourist attractions. Also the migration of 35 bird species in Lake Limboto is a wonderful tourist delight.
