Selaparang Airport has already become an international terminal, which only helps to make the region more accessible and therefore attractive as an option for tourists. There is also the Brangbiji Airport in the Sumbawa Regency and the Salahudin Airport in the Bima Regency. Since 1995, Selaparang Airport has offered direct flights from Singapore as often as seven times a week with Silk Airlines and once a week by the Australian National Jet System, although in 1998 the Australian flights had to stop altogether. For sea travel to the area, there are three main harbours in West Nusa Tenggara; Lembar Harbor in Lombok, Badas Harbor in Sumbawa, and Bima Harbor in Bima.

A range of different types and standards of accommodation are available in the area, but there are moves to further develop these facilities. There are now 312 hotels with 5,238 rooms and 8,923 bed units in all. From this amount, there are 30 star hotels with 1,766 rooms and 2,662 beds. There are as many as 282 jasmine hotels with 3,472 rooms and 6,261 beds. These hotels, according to calculations made in 1998, are concentrated in the Lombok Barat Regency and, in particular, the Mataram Municipal District.

From Many Shores

When compared with Bali, Lombok is able to hold her own in terms of tourism appeal because she is able to attract visitors from many countries. Based on the data collected on the numbers of visiting tourists, the West Nusa Tenggara Tourism Administration has found that the majority of tourists who came to West Nusa Tenggara in 1998 were from Australia - 19.43% of the total number of visitors, or as many as 211,812 tourists.

The rest came from Germany (12.26%), the United States (10.39%), the Netherlands (10.02%), and Britain (8.87%), as well as Japan, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, France, New Zealand, Switzerland, Canada, Austria, Denmark, and so on (making up a total of approximately 1-5%). The numbers of foreign tourists and domestic tourists who came into West Nusa Tenggara in the same year was 380,539, a decrease of around 5% when compared with the previous year, which saw as many as 403,943 people visit the area.

West Nusa Tenggara is particularly popular with Australian tourists, whose higher visitor rate is understandable because the location of this region is relatively close. Many Australian tourists enjoy having the opportunity to explore the natural and rugged beauty of the area also as well. The Rinjani Mountain National Park in Lombok Island and Tambora Mountain area in Sumbawa Island are fast becoming favourites with adventure travellers.

To demonstrate how significant this growth has been, the number of tourists who visited West Nusa Tenggara in 1988 was 100,321, jumping to 403,943 by 1997. The 5% decrease from the previous year of the number of tourists in 1998 can be directly related to various local and national issues in Indonesia at that time; such as transportation concerns, health concerns, the perceived smoke hazard from the burning forests, and, more recently, the unstable political situation.

During 1999, however, the Local Government of West Nusa Tenggara is optimistic of being able to reach the tourist market, and has set a visiting target this year - the year of the rabbit - of as many as 504,000 tourists. According to this prediction, the income would be as high as RP46.8 billion. The local government is hoping that improved tourism services will stimulate foreign investment. By the end of the sixth five-year Indonesian plan (pelita), the local government plans to improve tourism services by as much as 25 percent a year. If this target is achieved the total number of rooms in star hotels will be 2,575, and jasmine hotels will increases as much as 5 percent, with the number of rooms totalling 2,908.