MENINGKATKAN KUNJUNGAN WISATAWAN MANCANEGERA MELALUI PROGRAM WONDERFUL RIAU ISLANDS TAHUN 2019

Abstract

The tourism sector is able to improve a country's economy. The tourism sector is also able to increase Nation Branding in the eyes of the international community. The development of tourism has been increasing yearly. This is certainly an achievement for the government and other actors who have contribution on striving for development in the tourism sector. Challenges and opportunities that’s local government deal with have become motivation to develop tourism sector, then adopted several strategies to attract foreign tourists. The Riau Islands Province, which has a strategic geographical location on the border of several neighboring countries, and has abundant tourism resources including natural, historical, cultural and comparative advantages of each regency / city in the Riau Islands. The development of the tourism sector must be an important and strategic concern for local governments to optimize the tourism potential as a new economic opportunity in order to improve community welfare and regional income. According to data from the Tourism Office in 2019, the number of foreign tourist visits has increased by 124.56% from the predetermined target. The purpose of this research is to find out how the strategy of the Riau Islands Province Tourism Office in increasing foreign tourist visits through the Wonderful Riau Islands Program. This study uses a qualitative research method. The result of this research is that the strategy carried out by the Riau Islands Province Tourism Office is implementing the Tourism Marketing Development Program, the Tourism Destination Development Program, the Tourism Industry Development Program, the Tourism Institutional Development Program and the Creative Economy Development Program.