The Jakarta administration has enlisted platoon-sized girl band JKT48 as a tourism ambassador for the capital city under the slogan 'Enjoy Jakarta', in a bid to increase the number of Japanese visitors to Jakarta.

'Japanese tourists are a major target for tourism. We want to boost the number of Japanese tourists through JKT48,' Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency head Arie Budhiman said on Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.

Arie said that his administration opted for JKT 48, which is a sister group to Japan-based AKB48, because of the band's popularity not only in Indonesia, but also in Japan.

JKT48 would promote the capital city in various events, such as the Jakarta Tourism Expo, he said, adding that the band would also go overseas to promote various Jakarta tourism sites.

'Jakarta has to be promoted by the younger generation. We are optimistic that the appointment of JKT48 as our ambassador will be an effective strategy to develop Jakarta's tourism sector,' Arie said.

According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the total number of foreign tourists in Jakarta reached 173,914 as of July 2014. Of that number, China was ranked first with 17,211 visits and Japan second with 14,455 visits. Behind Japan came Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the United States. (alz)