JAKARTA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia will seek more flight routes at the 2018 Routes Asia Forum slated for March 18 to 20 in Brisbane, Australia, Indonesia's Deputy Tourism Minister I Gde Pitana said.
The destinations Indonesia will be promoting at the upcoming forum are Yogyakarta, Lake Toba and Lombok,
"Through this forum we expect to see more Australian tourist arrivals with expanded connectivity and more flight routes," Pitana said, citing to the forum themed "The Route Development Forum for Asia" this year.
Pitana said the chance to get flight route expansions to Indonesia through the forum was significant as the forum would be attended by decision makers of more than 100 airlines as well as around 200 representatives of airport operators in the region.
Reiterating the importance of the forum, Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said that Australia has been identified as an essential market for Indonesia's tourism sector, with a target of 1.35 million tourist arrivals this year.
The minister said that Indonesia would highlight the "Digital Destination & Nomadic Tourism" topic in the incoming forum, which might further attract potential Australian tourists.
Besides participating in the forum, Indonesia will also hold tour package sales and photography exhibitions across the country in Australia's Melbourne on March 22.
The event, entitled "Jewel of the Southeast Asia", would display photographs made by Indonesian and Australian photographers on various Indonesian destinations other than Bali, including Borobudur, Tana Toraja, Komodo Island, Raja Ampat.