The Tourism Ministry, along with tourist business entities from top local destinations, participated in the biggest international tourism exhibition, Jeddah International Tourism & Travel Exhibition (JITTE). Located in Saudi Arabia, the event took place at the Jeddah Hilton’s convention center from Feb. 28 to March 2.  The ministry’s public relations bureau stated through a press release that Indonesian delegations participated in the event with the mission of promoting Wonderful Indonesia. They also hoped for an increase in tourist arrivals from Saudi Arabia, from last year’s 166,111.  Indonesia promoted its top destinations that have gathered interest from Saudi Arabia tourists as well as from other Middle Eastern countries. They are Jakarta, West Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, with new destinations such as Central Java and East Java. The delegations were equipped with complete information on the destinations, products and travel packages to attract future tourists.  “Saudi Arabia’s tourist numbers in Indonesia are the highest in the Middle Eastern market. This year, we are hoping for an increase,” said the ministry’s undersecretary for development and marketing, I Gde Pitana.  He also said that in addition to the increasing numbers of Saudi Arabia tourists, they also contributed to the high foreign exchange income as Saudi Arabia tourists spent twice as much as tourists from other countries.  “On average, a Saudi Arabia tourists spends US$ 2,200 per visit in Indonesia, while tourists from other countries spend roughly half of that,” said I Gde Pitana.  After participating in the JITTE exhibition, the ministry also organized a table top session as a meeting place for the Indonesian sellers and 80 buyers from Saudi Arabia.