Indonesia expects the number of foreign holidaymakers to increase to 9.5 million people in 2014 from this year's expectation of 8 million people due to market diversification in emerging Asia, a minister said on Friday.

Indonesian Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu said that the government would boost market diversification to emerging Asia and Russia, and intensify direct flights to the countries.

Minister Pangestu forecast the tourism industry in Southeast Asia's largest economy was not going to be significantly impacted by the gloomy global economy as the tourists from emerging Asia, whose economy grows rapidly, was forecast not to be affected seriously by the global crisis compared to Europe.

"This year, we expect 8 million foreign tourists coming into the country and 9.5 million people in 2014," Pangestu told reporters at the State Palace.

The vast-archipelago country still lags behind neighboring countries in attracting foreign tourists. Some economists have said that improving the competitiveness in the sector could be a new engine of economic growth in Indonesia.

Minister Pangestu said that Indonesia would rely much on the rise of foreign visitors from Asia, such as China, India, and Japan, and Russia.

"We will focus more on Asia, it is not affected as much (as Europe and the U.S.) by the global economic crisis. Therefore we attempt to penetrate markets in Asia, such as China, South Korea, and India, and Russia," said Pangestu.

To reach the goal, the minister said that another effort to be taken was intensification of direct flights to the foreign countries and to set up new direct routes to India and Russia.

In the near future, Indonesia's leading carrier Pt Garuda Indonesia aimed to open a direct flight to China's Taipei, according to Pangesu.

The number of foreign tourist arrival in Indonesia increased by 18.93 percent to 652,700 in January year on year, the statistic bureau announced here on March 1.

In Bali, the center of Indonesia's tourism industry, the number of foreign tourist coming into the tourist resort rose by 0.36 percent to 249,700 people, it said.

Indonesia's foreign tourist arrival rose to 7.65 million people in 2011, higher than that of 7.0 million people in the previous year, the bureau said.

The Indonesian tourism industry has recovered from the impact of terrorism, and epidemics.