Jakarta, Dec 5 (IANS): The Indonesian government is currently establishing a tourism fund to support the country in developing sustainable tourism and attract more visitors, a Minister said.

Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said the tourism fund, set to be launched in early 2024, would manage an initial fund at 2 trillion rupiahs ($129 million) to support the promotion of tourism events and improve the nation branding of Indonesia's tourism in the global market, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We will use the fund to support both national and international events, such as sports, music, and cultural arts, which will be held here in Indonesia.

"This also includes high-level summits that may not directly be related to tourism, because international conferences also bring economic impacts," Uno told reporters.

There will be at least three international-scale events to be hosted by Indonesia in 2024, namely BWF Badminton World Tour-Indonesia Masters, the 10th World Water Forum and Indonesia MotoGP in Mandalika.

That agenda, Uno said, was expected to help the post-Covid recovery in Indonesia's tourism sector.

According to the Indonesia Statistics (BPS), from January to October, Indonesia recorded 9.49 million tourist arrivals, higher than the government's target of 7.4 million at the beginning of this year.