Indonesia's competitiveness in travel and tourism has improved from No. 81 in 2009 to No. 74 in 2011, out of 139 countries, local media reported here on Friday.

Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying that the rise was a good spur for the further development of Indonesian tourism.

Despite the improvement, however, Indonesia still ranked far below other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries like Singapore (16), Malaysia (32) and Thailand (42).

The minister said lack of competitiveness among professionals in the tourism industry as well as insufficient capacity in research and development had hampered the development of tourism in the country.

The number of foreign holidaymakers coming into Indonesia is forecast to rise to 7.6 million in 2011 from 7 million in 2010, Sapta Nirwandar, Deputy Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy, said.

The government expects 8.4 billion U.S. dollars from tourists' spending in 2011, up from 7.6 billion U.S. dollars in the previous year.

For 2012, Indonesia targets a high of 8 million foreign tourists, Minister Pangestun has said.

She said that the government was looking to attract visitors from countries that have emerged relatively unscathed from the global credit crisis including China, India and Australia.