JAKARTA (indo.com): The Jakarta administration will actively promote the city as a golf tourism destination to attract more foreign visitors to the capital, an official has said.

Ongky S. Hardjakusumah, an assistant to the city development administration, said that Jakarta, with its incredible golf courses, is expected to evolve into a golf tourism destination like Batam and Bali. These islands have successfully developed golf as a tourism pull.

Currently, as many as 10 excellent golf courses are available in Jakarta, and 22 others are to be found in the vicinities of Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi.

The golf courses in Jakarta include Pondok Indah Golf Course & Country Club, Jakarta Golf Club, Pantai Indah Kapuk Golf Course, Padang Golf Jaya Ancol and Padang Golf Kemayoran.

He said that the international standard of golf courses in Jakarta gives the city plenty of potential to be developed into a golf tourism destination.

He cited the golf promotion trip as one of the effective promotion programs designed to attract foreign visitors. "The program is specially intended for tour operators and travel writers specializing in covering golf from Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong," he remarked.

"In the first phase, we are not concerned with how many foreign tourists will visit Jakarta; the priority is on making Jakarta well-known as golf tourism destination." he said.

Golf tourism is seen as benefiting Jakarta because golfers are inclined to stay longer, with a higher rate of expenditure, he added.